If it were enough
by Lady Fionnavar
Summary: Its been a year since they parted ways. What have they been up to? What happens when they (inevitably) meet up again? Can Fuu keep pretending she hasn't missed Mugen? Can Mugen actually say what he really feels? And what about Jin? Will he remain a wandering bachelor forever, or will Shino be waiting at the end of his travels? By the way: The weather forecast predicts some lemons.
1. Chapter 1: Jin

((Note: This is a fuugen fic, but I'm not cutting Jin out of it _if I can help it_, like I've seen many fics do. Like he just conveniently goes somewhere at a random time so that Fuu and Mugen can have some moments. Or he's not there at all. But they are friends, and in keeping with that, I think it's only right they get back together (traveling) like in the series.

Also, so you know; I spent time trying to figure out the mugen-fuu-jin ship and see what was true (from what I could see. I tried to be unbiased and not look for romance where it was just friendship or something). I love fuugen and I like romance, but I want to stay as true to the anime as possible. So; what I deduced: Fuu loves Mugen. Jin loves (or cares for) them both as friends. Mugen is fond of Fuu. Love though? I'm not sure. I feel like its plausible that he does from how he acted and the things he said, but it wasn't so clear when I watched for it. He's a bit too good at not saying things or reacting much. He did things that made me feel he _could _be in love with her, but he could have just been doing those ambiguous things because he was fond of her. But (from what I understand) he knows Fuu loves him. For that reason, I think he loves her. I think he's been alone without family or real friends for so long that when Fuu says that bit at the river to Jin, insinuating she loves Mugen, he can't help it. Has any female loved him before? (Or anyone, really?) I'm not trying to invent romance from nothing, but there is human nature to take into account. If no one has loved you, then someone comes into your life who sticks to you and loves you (and you know it), wouldn't you love them, if only for the reason that they loved you? Mugen doesn't act awkward or annoyed the next day, like she's some annoying girl with a crush he has to deal with. He doesn't make fun of her about what she said either, which would be in keeping with his nature if he didn't love her. And I keep feeling like Watanabe (director) insinuates Mugen loves her. He said that Mugen is like Spike (Cowboy Bebop, another project he worked on): he's not good at expressing himself when he likes a girl (or woman. lol. Not one he doesn't see just as a sex object).Why would Watanabe even mention that if he didn't mean Fuu? The other women in his world Mugen had no trouble talking with and he obviously just lusted over them. So who else could he mean? Some might say that girl who was pretending to be a whore to uncover illegal activity in the brothel basement (Yatsuha), but Mugen only ever was horny around her. She may have said he's the man she'd marry, but he never acted like he loved her, or even liked her beyond the sex he could get from her. And Koza is not even an issue. *cough*bitch*cough* Oh, excuse me. :P

Sorry for the long diatribe, but I thought you readers should know where I'm coming from in my Samurai Champloo fanfic (fanfics? We'll see).))

I do not own Samurai Champloo, the characters, etc… (But I wish I could own Mugen. Muhuhahaha. )

This story will have lemons. Not this chapter, but there you are. I'll put the lemon warnings on those chapters, no worries.

**Chapter 1: Jin**

Jin sipped his tea in the little eating house, quietly thinking about the past year he had spent. Except for the jobs he had taken to make money to keep traveling, it had been pretty uneventful. He thought back to the times before that, like he often had, and missed his traveling companions –no, his friends- again.

He couldn't stop his wanderings though. If Shino ((is that her name?)) had been free he would have gone to her by now, but he had nothing to do but travel and wait for the two more years left for her time in the woman's shelter before she was free. He didn't want to make life plans until he saw her again, because he planned to include her in that life. But waiting made him restless, and he could not find peace in one place. He had secretly hoped that fate would let the paths of him and his friends meet once again somewhere along their travels. So far, fate had not granted his secret wish.

Paying for his meal, he left the town's only eating house and went to the inn he was staying at. It was the town's only inn. The town was more of a pit stop in the middle of nowhere than a town. In his room, he set about cleaning his swords meticulously. His latest job had just finished and he was anxious to get on the road again. He liked the serene quiet of the road, but he had also gotten tired of being alone, though he hated to admit it. He had never needed anyone before he had met Mugen and Fuu. They were the only family he had. Living his whole life alone could only serve to accentuate his loneliness when they had walked out of his life a year ago.

But they _had_ parted ways, and now it was up to fate and chance to determine if he would ever see them again. He hoped he would.

Fuu had surprised him. He thought she would ask them to continue traveling with her. But he didn't pretend to always understand her. He hoped she hadn't gotten kidnapped again or anything. But she was probably fine.

He wondered what trouble Mugen was getting into right now. The ronin had to smile inwardly, thinking of all the trouble the vagabond had gotten into on their journey and his flippant nature. They were similar, but not the same, like two sides to a coin. Both had fought only for themselves and had been alone. Both were killers.

After a long relaxing bath, he dried off and got into his under-kimono. He blew out the candles and was asleep as soon as his head touched the futon.

The next morning he left Wassamu after finishing his breakfast and practicing with his katana and wakizashi as he did every morning unless there was no time, and headed southwest out of town. He was glad to be leaving the north, because summer was almost at an end and he didn't relish the thought of being colder than necessary when winter came around. He would normally never come so far north in the first place, but then that was the lure of it: it was some place new. Even though Ezochi had a lot more remote places than the rest of Japan, it was still able to offer him ample amounts of work. A sword-for-hire, especially one with his level of mastery, was always welcome. In fact, he tended to be less badly fed and less likely to sleep outdoors now while traveling alone than when he was traveling with Mugen and Fuu. But he didn't mind their constant bickering and the troubles they got him into. In fact he almost missed it.

Jin finally reached Sapporo, nine days later. The bustling seaport was a hive of activity. He immediately set about looking for work, since he was running low on funds again, but the first few places he asked were not interested in hiring more employees, or so they said. He was starting to seriously considering hiring himself out as a guard in the red light district.

He was about to cross the street to head that way when a band of horsemen raced through the streets down towards the harbor, cutting off his path. He mentally sighed in annoyance and waited. Finally they passed, and he crossed the street. "Reiko!" somebody cried. He turned around to see a chubby faced little girl who couldn't be more than a few years old toddling across the street. Then she fell on her butt and giggled and patted the dirt in childish glee. A horseman was riding down the street straight at her, as if he didn't see the toddler. With the speed of lightning, Jin ran for her, scooped her up and was on the other side, setting her down when the horseman rode by. "Fool!" He muttered at the figure on horseback who was now far down the way.

A woman in a cotton lavender colored yukata tied with a white obi scooped up the girl and hugged her tight. The girl squirmed in her grip, oblivious to the drama that had unfolded. While the woman sobbed, a man came out and gripped her around the shoulders. The commoner was ashen faced with the thought of what could have happened. "Reiko, don't run off like that!" He scolded, looking shaken up. He bowed to Jin. "Thank you so much for saving our little girl!" The man eyed his swords, surprised a strange ronin would save a child. But still, he was grateful. "It was nothing really. Those riders should have been more careful on a populated street." Jin said, aware that a crowd had gathered. He hated attracting this kind of attention.

He made to leave but the man stopped him. "I couldn't help but overhear that you are looking for work?" "How did you figure that out?" Jin asked, suspicious. "I was at the shop where you asked if they were hiring. I was shopping with them." He pointed at the woman and little girl, whom Jin assumed was his family. "I see." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I know of a man who is in need of someone who knows how to handle a blade. The pay is not very high, but its work. Ask down by the docks for Harou. Oh, and tell him that Etsuko sent you." He bowed again and then led his family away from there.

What? No name of the shop, or a more exact location? Jin shrugged. Work was work. He would find this Harou person somehow.

"See, what 'cha do is cut off the head, then slice 'em length-wise and pull out their guts and backbones. Then hand 'em to Fumie and she'll handle the rest." Harou said. A vein in Jin's temple pulsed. He opened his eyes, his face not concealing his grim displeasure, and said "So let me get this straight. You want me to gut fish? I was under the impression my swords would be used for something else. Something like being a bodyguard for example." Harou arched his right eyebrow. "Body guarding? I'm a fishmonger, not a Daimyo or Yakuza. And these fish don't need protecting." He guffawed at this, as if it were some great joke. Then he sobered up and gave the young ronin a hard stare. "Look, you want the job or not? Etsuko must've thought well of yeh, but if you're unwilling, I'm sure I can find someone else to do the work." Jin mentally groaned. This is not what he had learned sword fighting to become. Such a job was unfitting for his blades. But the job was right in his face, and he didn't want to waste time looking for another. "No, its fine. I'll do it." Harou grinned broadly and slapped him on the back hard enough that Jin gasped for the breath that had been knocked out of him. "Well, that more like it lad. I was beginning to think that you were one of them high-browed sorts who don't like doing an honest day's work. We can't all be lords, can we?" He didn't see Jin scowl as Harou turned, laughing, to leave him to his work. "Don't mind Harou. He doesn't mean any harm." Fumie told him without looking up, as she cleaned the fish in front of her of any remaining innards and rubbed salt into the fish flesh. Jin shrugged. She tossed the fish into a crate and looked up. "Welcome by the way." She smiled. It was strange to see such a quiet and gentle looking woman working for a fishmonger. Interpreting his look, she informed him. "Harou is my husband." His eyes widened at this surprising revelation. But she had used his first name. She grinned at his reaction. "I get that look a lot. Let's just say I married under my station. But I don't mind. I'm happy here." Jin supposed he could see how that was possible. She reminded him of Shino by her quiet manner. He closed his eyes and wished a silly wish. He wished as always, that the three years since he saw her last until when he could see her again were over. But he had no power over the slow stream of time.

Then he opened his eyes with a look of determination and tied back his sleeves. He accepted the long apron Fumie handed him. Time to be a fishmonger.

"Harou!" The man yelled from the door to the building where Jin and Fumie were working. Jin was covered in fish guts and smelled fishy. He was sweating and annoyed by now. Those slippery damned fishes were harder to cut and clean than they looked. The man's yelling was not helping his mood. "Harou is not in, Wajiro. He went to Eiji's on business. You'll have to wait, or come back later." Fumie told him. "I ain't waiting! The man said he'd pay me today, and I'm here now." "He'll pay you when he gets back. Or you can go to Eiji's to find him." Fumie replied calmly, as if used to dealing with surly and threatening men. "Eiji and me don't exactly see eye to eye. I ain't going over there. So _you_ can just pay me instead." When she didn't respond, he yelled "Now woman! Or do you want me to take it out of your hide?" He said, advancing menacingly. "I believe you should wait calmly here. Why are you in such a rush to be paid?" Jin said, looking as calm and emotionless as always. Inside however, this man was starting to piss him off. He began to slowly and meticulously wipe his blade on his apron. Wajiro eyed the fish-covered Jin and told him "Stay out of this, four eyes. This don't concern you." The insult about him wearing glasses reminded him of Mugen for the breadth of a second. Wajiro pulled out a tanto from his sleeve and grabbed Fumie around the waist, locking her arms at her side and held the blade up to her throat. "So give me what he owes me or I'll…." He was cut off by the feel of a sudden short wind and by a gurgling noise. It took a minute to realize he was choking on his own blood. Jin had reacted the moment the tanto was out and had closed the gap between them in a flash, slicing Wajiro's throat in a whirlwind of cloth and steel. Wajiro fell over, dead, a look of surprise on his face. Fumie shuddered and stepped away from the dead man. Jin sliced his sword through the air with a snap of his wrist to shake the blood off his sword, before sheathing it smoothly. Fumie eyed him. After some time that seemed like longer than it really was, she finally spoke. "While I am grateful you stopped him, wasn't it a bit extreme to kill him? A warrior like you should have had no trouble to incarcerate him without harming him much." Jin didn't speak for a few minutes, but stood looking at the wall in front of him and not at her. "I lost my temper." He finally admitted, somewhat guiltily. "Geez, remind me never to get on your bad side." She grinned weakly. He went back to where he had left the fish he had been cleaning. "Hn."

"Goodbye! Good luck young man." Harou said, a broad grin on his face. He handed Jin some fish on a string. "Thank you." Jin said, taking the fish. He nodded to Fumie and then turned and was on his way back to the main road through Sapporo.

He had walked halfway to the outskirts of town, when more horsemen, like he had seen on his first day in town, raced down the street, making people jump out of the way to avoid being trampled. Amidst the chaos that followed, Jin spotted a rock flying through the air. It struck the last rider, who fell off his horse. Turning at the sound of their comrade yelping in pain, they witnessed him fall off his horse as they reined theirs in and turned around, looking for the source of the rock. A young man stood there, tossing a rock in his hand and catching it repeatedly, as if to let them know it was him who injured the man. One by one the horsemen got off their horses and drew swords on the young man, surrounding him. One of the men was checking on his friend. "He's breathing. I didn't throw it that hard." The young man said, smiling. "What's the big idea, kid?" One of the bigger men said. "You get a kick out of causing trouble or something? You have a death wish or something? Didn't your mother teach you manners? It's rude to throw rocks. "And it's not rude to be running people over in the streets like the people there don't matter?" He was still smiling almost amicably, but his look was like steel. "Its not when they don't. I think we should teach this pup his place." The man said, smiling as he unsheathed his kitana. "Why do I bother?" Jin mentally sighed in annoyance at himself, before walking in between the men, looking like he was just on a nonchalant stroll, as he pushed between two of them to stand next to the young man, who was pulling what looked like a sling out of his pocket.

"Hey, what do you want? You want a piece of this?" The man who seemed to speak for them said. "Only self-indulgent cowards would fight a boy as a group with katanas when he has none." The lead horseman grinned at him. "Pretty uppity for a vagrant ronin. I don't mind seeing what you've got. It'll make it more interesting to knock you off your high horse." Jin glared. "I would not draw my blade if I were you." "Is that so. COME AT ME THEN." He swung without warning, but Jin was already ducking under his swing and then slashed upward, killing the man in seconds. He wasted no time, moving in a flurry of steel and blood, until the last man was dead on the ground. 'I _tried_ to warn him.' He thought contemptuously. He wiped the blade on part of one dead man's clothing that wasn't covered in blood, and then sheathed his sword in one fluid movement. He looked over the where the boy stood, poised as if he had been about to use his sling to throw another rock. He slowly lowered his hands and he looked at the samurai with the glasses in front of him in surprise. Jin started walking away. "Wait!" The youth ran up to him. "That was amazing! As quick as the wind! Where did you learn that? Can all samurai fight like that?" Jin turned his steel glare on the young man. "That was a stupid thing to do. You would have been dead before you knew what had happened." He kept walking. The young man fought to keep up with him. "Oh come on. I'm the best with the sling! I would have stood a chance of winning. Besides, could you just let them trample people? You heard them, they said those people were nothing!" Jin mentally sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "As admirable as your sentiments are, you would still be dead, and they would still continue to terrorise people." He boy looked like he was thinking that over. But he was still following Jin. They were nearing the outskirts of the city. "Don't you have to go home?" "Yes, actually. But I don't live in Sapporro. I live near Lake Utonai, which is near Tomakomai." He informed Jin. "Where are _you _going?" "Tomakomai." Jin muttered instantly, seeing where this was going. "Really? Well, then we can travel together. You can tell me about being a ronin and how you can fight so well." The boy prattled on and on, but Jin tuned out. The boy reminded him of Fuu in his ability to go on and on. But it also made him miss his friends again. "Fine. Come along with me if you wish." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm Takayoshi, by the way. Nice to meet you…" It was going to be a long trip.

Note: Ezochi= Hokkaido (It was renamed when the Meiji restoration began. The same time the age of the samurai ended. For this reason it is only fitting to use it. Besides wanting to be historically accurate _if I can_, using Ezochi and not Hokkaido is my nod to the end of the way of the samurai. But don't think I will always be historically accurate. If nothing else that would not be in keeping with the show. Lol).

I consider this chapter amusing, but generally boring. I'm sorry. Mugen's chapter is next. I hope it makes up for it. ;)

I'm sorry Jin! I don't mean you are bor- …er, uninter- You know what, never mind.

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2: Mugen

WARNING: This chapter is not for kids. Theres no lemon specifically, but yeah. Call it lewdness not suitable for children and people who get disgusted with that stuff easily.

**Chapter 2: Mugen**

Mugen picked his teeth with the toothpick. He took one last swig of his sake and flipped a coin to the waitress. He got up and walked lazily out of the eating house. Outside, he stretched and then walked the town at random, looking for something interesting to do. He wondered if this town had a brothel. By its size, it should.

Suddenly, he saw a girl in a pink kimono with brown hair. Fuu? He grabbed the girl by the arm, but when she looked back at him, he saw that it wasn't her. The girl didn't look anything like Fuu. Her let her go. She just looked at him with wide eyes and ran off. "Shit." He swore. Why did he do that? Who cared if some bimbo looked like Fuu from behind? He kicked a rock. What a buzzkill. Who wanted to think about that whiny, flat chested brat?

After a little searching, he found the town's biggest brothel. It wasn't hard to find, with the crowds of men in front. A bunch of whores and sakes later he was feeling a lot better. This was more like it.

The next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes on glaring daylight. "Owww." He had a massive hangover. And he was lying face down in the street. He got up and dusted himself off. 'What a crazy night. Couldn't even make it to an inn.' He grinned, and then winced. Everything was too loud and too bright. And it was already hot out. He yawned and stretched. He walked for a bit before coming across a shrine. He strolled under the roof and curled up behind the altar for a nap.

When he woke, it was still day. He was hungry, so after stealing the money placed at the shrine, he sauntered casually through the towns market and helped himself to whatever wasn't kept a strict eye on that struck his interest. He swiped a meat bun, four red bean pastries, two plums, a handful of beans, and half a grilled eel. He nearly burned his fingers and got caught at the same time while trying to pilfer the eel, but fortunately for him, the stall was busy and the man who manned it would only have noticed if he hadn't choked back the yelp when he burned his fingers on the hot eel. Not a bad meal, and he hadn't even spent a mon. Mugen burped and scratched his side.

He used the money to buy some food and wandered out of town heading north at random. The town was okay, but his feet itched to keep moving. He walked through a forest along with merchants, travelers and people on errands. After a few hours of walking he got bored and tried to amuse himself by picking up small rocks and hitting the small cart that was in front of him. Whenever the man pulling it looked back to see what was hitting his cart, Mugen looked at him blandly. The man couldn't decide if he was being harassed by the man with the hard eyes, or if nuts were falling from the trees above them. He hoped it was the latter. He didn't want trouble. Mugen eventually got bored again. The _thoughts_ came back. Thoughts of a time he hadn't traveled alone. "Fuck that!" He said loudly, causing the man to jump and turn around. "Pfff. Smell you later!" He told the man, before bending like a sprinter on starting blocks and running fast, past the cart man, as the wind he caused whipped the man's clothing. "Thank goodness. My, but he's fast." The man muttered to himself as he watched the young vagabond run down the road. At the next intersection of roads, Mugen turned right down a lesser used path. "Hey mister! That's bandit territory!" The cart driver yelled after him. But the young man was already gone. The cart man shrugged.

It was growing dark and Mugen had slowed to a walk again. He had been aware of people following him in the woods for over an hour now. He stopped. "All right. I can smell you guys, so get out here already!" He called. He was always up for some fun. A bunch of bandits stepped from the trees to surround him. They looked rough and mean. But no match for him. Hopefully, they'd give him some exercise before they died. "Give up yer money and we _might_ spare you." One told him. "Pfft. No thanks. Just fight me already, or I'm walking away." Mugen told them with a grin.

A few hours later Mugen was counting the change he'd pulled out of one dead bandit's pockets. "Man this area sure has a lot of bandits. I wish at least one of them at least had some decent amount of money. " He wanted to hit up a brothel in the nearest town big enough for one. But for right now, it was pitch black in the woods, so he decided to stop for the night. He made a fire with the lighter one of the bandits had on him, sprawled out, and pulled out some paper from his pocket. He put aside the books and focused on a folded piece of paper. He flipped it open and looked at the ukiyo e print of Fuu posing for Backwards Beauty. He stared at it for a long time. Tracing the outline of Fuu, he suddenly remembered the other print that artist guy had made of Fuu. The one with not just her shoulders bare, but her breasts and butt free for all to see. The guy had left the country with that print; otherwise Mugen might have tracked it down. But there was no way Fuu was that well-endowed. It was just Fuu with bigger boobs than normal. He felt his pants get tighter. "Fuck." It was just some picture. It's not like the real Fuu could have this effect on him, he told himself. She was flat as a board. It was just the memory of that tight ass and nice boobs in the lost print that was affecting him. Unable to take it anymore, he proceeded to relieve the tension in his nethers.

"Damit! Where'd the little bastard go?" Mugen said, looking around the city. He turned to the nearest person who was a sweet vendor. "Have you seen this kid? Scrawny, about this high?" "No mister." The vendor said. "Tch!" He ran off looking for the kid. The little shit had swiped his dumpling. Sure, he had stolen it from a local food vendor, but he stole it fair and square! It was his!

He spotted the street urchin and cornered him in an alley. "Gimme my dumpling, you brat!" They boy handed a dumpling with a bite in it over to Mugen wide-eyed. "Whats this? You ate some." "Sorry mister!" The kid ran away out of the alley. "Tch." Then Mugen shrugged and stuffed the stolen food in his mouth. It wasn't his lookout if some kid was all skin and bones. He knew better than anyone that life was shit and you either got tough fast and got quick or you died. He had learned long, long, ago to treat each day as his last. That kid probably already knew that. Mugen smirked. What a pansy kid. 'He won't last long.' He thought to himself. "Hey, wait!" He felt for his money, but it was gone. "Little fucker. I guess I was wrong." He grinned. Then he ran out of the alley to look for the kid and get his money back.

"Fucking troublemaker. He'd better stay out." The burly man tossed an unconscious Mugen bodily out of the red light district. He laid there where he landed in the road until the next day. When he woke up he groaned. "Why's the sun gotta be so bright?" He mumbled, struggling to sit upright against the wall to the district. "Naturally, it's always this bright." A voice said. It sounded familiar to him, but the man's features where hidden by the light behind him. "No shit? And here I was thinking it was usually dark." Mugen retorted sarcastically, agitated by his massive hangover. The person didn't answer. After a pause the person spoke again. "What have you done to be kicked out of the Red Light District this time?" "Who gives a shit? What are you, some…wait _this time?_" Did he meet this guy someplace before? Then it hit him where he'd heard the voice before. "No fucking way. Jin?" He squinted harder at the person. The sun was killing his head. "Hn." Jin moved out of the glare of the sun. Mugen struggled to his feet. "How the fuck are you here? How does that even make sense?" Jin shrugged. "I just came in yesterday from Ezochi. I was looking for work." "At the red light district?" "If necessary." Jin push up his glasses. Mugen looked around. "She's not with me. I haven't seen her since we all split up." "Oh. …Wait, who?" Jin mentally rolled his eyes at this. "Fuu." "Why would I care if she was here or not?" Jin shrugged. If Mugen wanted to pretend he was fooling anyone, then fine. "So why were you kicked out?" Mugen ran his hand through his hair. "I drank more than I could pay for." He told Jin. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything you do anymore." Jin replied. Mugen grinned. Normally, he'd tell the person to fuck off and who the fuck were they, but he didn't feel like it with Jin. He stretched and linked his hands behind his head. "I'm hungry. Let's grab some grub." Jin arched and eyebrow. "Only if you're not planning on dining and dashing." Mugen grinned. "It's not like I got any change left." "I can buy you a meal." Mugen frowned. "Fuck no. I don't take handouts from no one. _No one_." He emphasised. It was Jin's turn to grin. "Fine. Then you can pay me back. There's a job, but it called for two man job, not one. I just saw the sign, and was thinking about applying alone anyway, or if I should just try somewhere else when I stumbled across you. If you get the job you'll be able to pay me back in no time." Mugen scratched his stomach. "Fine, sure. I ain't got anything better to do anyway." He slung his sword over his shoulder and followed Jin.

Some days later Mugen was sitting on a rock on a beach, staring out at the sea. Jin walked up behind him. "You really like the sea." Mugen didn't reply. "Let's go." Mugen jumped down and walked down the beach and back to the road after Jin. He had no idea why he had decided to follow old four-eyes after their job ended. But it was probably because he had nothing else to do. No other plans.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and felt the paper in there brush up against his knuckles. He pulled his hand out like it was burned. Stupid broad. He put his hands behind his head. Sometimes he couldn't stand touching that stupid ukiyo e print. Especially lately. But he found he couldn't toss it. He scowled. Jin noticed and wondered what had pissed Mugen off. In one swift movement, Jin reached into the offending pocket and pulled out his prize. He unfolded it. "What the fuck! Give that back four-eyes!" Jin looked at it. "Why do you have this?" He asked as Mugen grabbed the picture and stuffed it back in his pocket. "Bastard." He glared at Jin. "You better lay off. I just do." He grumbled. Jin said nothing. So he still felt something for Fuu. Jin thought Mugen might have not still have a thing for her after all this time. Now he knew. He wondered if Mugen was even aware of his feelings for her. It was a toss-up with Mugen who had a good poker face, but was also equally clueless about some things.

He hadn't reacted as strongly as Jin would have expected or put up a pretense about the picture either. For anyone else, he would have ignored the person or beat him up. So Mugen trusted him, did he? That was unexpected. He pushed up his glasses and began walking.

"Why the hell did he even trust me to find decent digs?" Mugen mumbled and kicked a stone. He was on his way to meet up with Jin, who was looking for work while Mugen looked for an inn. They were supposed to meet up afterwards at a shrine near the center of the city. It was almost a year later since he had met up with Jin again, and he still found himself traveling with the stoic ronin. He had kept telling himself he should just walk away, but he never had. His fingers absentmindedly brushed the print in his pocket which triggered a memory. He pulled out his hand and swore loudly. "Annoying brat." He muttered. He couldn't even escape her when she was gone and he'd never see her again. Then he heard the most impossible thing ever. "Mugen?" a familiar voice said softly. He whirled around. It was Fuu. She was a little taller than he remembered, and her curves were slightly more pronounced through her pink kimono. But it was her. She was holding a bulging cloth bag with leeks peeking out. The surprise on her face mirrored his own.

-The formatting they let you do on here is terrible, so my end notes will start with a dash (it won't save more then that), so you can tell it from the story.

I was rather lost as to how this story would go until this point, where I figured some things out. So sorry for any weirdness/ disjointedness because of this.

Mugens a pervert. Haha.

For clarity: The picture of Fuu he carries is NOT the one with all her parts hanging out. The artist guy took it with him when he left Japan remember? I thought it was too implausible for Mugen to know he'd never made it out of japan and so Mugen couldn't have gone looking for the picture if he wanted to. The one he has is 'Backwards Beauty'. It just reminds him of the other picture that is gone. (He remembers dirty things easily.) By the way if I talk about ukiyo e prints and say call them Shunga, I mean erotic art. (Thats the Japanese name for them. Not to be mistaken for just porn.)

I know I said there will be lemons (and there will. Muhuhaha) but its not going to be constant. Its going to be where its part of the story. And I will warn you at the being of the chapter in question.

Please rate and review! Thanks! Let me know if you think anyone was too out of character (and what they were doing that was OC).


	3. Chapter 3: Fuu

Chapter 3: Fuu

He just stared. "Mugen?" There was something alien and intense about his look. Fuu had seen him angry. She had seen his intense looks. But this one was different. It was almost like the one when he had rescued her from the church almost two years ago. But different in a way she didn't understand. It almost scared her. He walked over to her slowly, until he was standing right in front of her, almost in her personal space. She started chattering. "It is you. I thought so. What are you doing here?" He didn't seem to hear her. He reached out and gripped her chin in his large hand. "What?" She asked as he turned her face one way then the other. "What Mugen? Jeez, you're weird. Is this how you greet me after not seeing each other for almost two years?" She said, starting to get annoyed at his strange behavior. Then his head swooped towards her like a hawk on a mouse and he was kissing her, before she had time to react or think. She dropped her bag in surprise. Finally, he pulled back. "Shut up." He told her grinning his usual sardonic grin. Then he kissed her again.

She was completely poleaxed. She didn't know what to do. He started running his hands on her midriff. But when he cupped her breasts with his hands and suddenly shoved a knee between her legs, she freaked out and shoved him off. "What the hell do you think you are you doing Mugen?!" "What do you think I was doing? Are you really that stupid?" He retorted; a look that was half amused and half confused on his face. "You show up out of the blue, don't even say hi, try to molest me and then you expect me to be happy about it? Geez Mugen! I don't even know who you are anymore!" She picked up her bag and began putting some vegetables which had fallen out of the bag back into it. Her hair fell into her face. "The Mugen I've known doesn't kiss me. To him I'm just a flat chested whiney brat. You've made that clear. So I don't know what this is." She got up. She wiped eyes that had started to tear against her will, which pissed her off. "And I don't want it." She made to walk away. He reached out and grabbed her wrist. She tried to pull free, but his grip was like steel. "Let go." "No." He said. What she had said bothered him, but he found he couldn't say anything about it. He held her like that for a minute. She just stood there with an impatient look on her face, waiting for him to explain or say _something _else about it.

Finally he spoke. "Dumb broad." Then he let go of her. "Whatever." He started to walk away. Fuu put her hands on her hips and sighed in frustration. What the hell was up with him? "Mugen." She said, walking in front of him so he stopped in his tracks. He looked at her expression as she stood there, clearly waiting for something. "Look. I ain't good with words. Maybe chicks can babble endlessly, but I ain't like that. Okay?" He told her. Fuu crossed her arms.

Then she nodded. "Fine." She wasn't sure what any of it really meant, but knew that he was right: he wouldn't be explaining himself to her. She wanted to ask him why he had did what he did, but maybe he didn't have a reason. Maybe he was just being his horney self, and she was the first female he'd come across in a long time. But it was strange because he never acted that way when they traveled. She felt a headache coming on thinking about it.

When he started walking again, she followed him. "So did you just get into this city?" She asked walking cautiously next to him. "I'm not going to jump you again. Geez." He said, annoyed. "Yeah, I just got in. Jin too." He said stuffing his hands into his pockets. His fingers brushed against the print for the thousandth time. It didn't bother him this time somehow. He stroked it gently and looked at her like he didn't give a fuck about anything she thought about what he had said. "So where is he?" She asked. It was an expected question. So why did it annoy him? "I'm supposed to meet four eyes at some shrine when I find us a place to stay. Heading there now. You live here?" He said, looking pointedly at the bag of food she held. "Yeah. I got tired of wandering." She lied, not wanting to explain how after trying it for a while she found herself the constant target of bandits, unwanted male attention that bordered on assault and most of these thinking she was easy or easy prey wandering alone. She barely came out of some of those unscathed. So when she found herself in this city, she decided it was time to stop traveling for her own safety. He looked at her but didn't respond before looking back at the length of road in front of them and the houses. "Which shrine?" "The Mizushima Inari shrine." Fuu giggled. "What?" He asked, annoyed. "You're going the wrong way." She informed him when she stopped laughing. "Well how the hell was I supposed to know that?!" He yelled at her. She shook her head. Looks like he was finally back to being the Mugen she had known. She relaxed, not realizing till then she hadn't relaxed after the stunt he pulled on her. "Come on. I'll take you." She said, dragging him by the arm. "Niigata is confusing if you don't know where things are." "Like I couldn't tell without you saying so." He retorted. "That much is clear." She said, getting a bit annoyed at his condescending tone. "You flat chested stupid brat." He said, but the memory of what she had said earlier about how he had made it clear this is how he saw her, and the fact that she actually was no longer looked flat-chested, stopped his temper in its tracks. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "At least I have the sense to ask for directions when I am lost!" She yelled. "What?" She said, noticing his temper had died. "Nothing." He said before continuing down the road. He was acting very strange. First he accosted her and now he stopped arguing with her in the middle, which he had never done before. She reached up and felt his forehead. He snatched her hand away from his face. "Stop that." He said irritably. He looked at her for a long few seconds before he dropped her hand, put his hand back in his pocket and walked past her down the street. She pursed her lips before shrugging. Maybe Jin would know what was up with him. What had happened to him since she saw him last to make him act like this? Before they knew it, they were at the shrine.

Sure enough, Jin stood there waiting near the entrance. His eyebrows arched in surprise. "Fuu?" He looked from Fuu to Mugen who looked like he couldn't care less as always. "Jin!" She couldn't stop herself from giving him a big hug. Jin smiled slightly and patted her head. When he looked up, he saw Mugen shooting a surly look at them. "Jin! I met Mugen and I had to show him where to go." She said in a hasty explanation. He nodded, understanding her meaning. "You found a place?" He asked Mugen. "Yeah. No problem." Mugen answered. "Wait! You guys don't need to find a place. Come stay at my place. As long as you pitch in for food, I have no problems with it." Jin thought about it before looking from Fuu to Mugen. "Okay. Mugen?" Mugen yawned and stretched. "Yeah, sure. Can't complain about a free roof over my head." "Great!" Fuu said enthusiastically. With Jin there she didn't worry about Mugen getting weird on her again. He'd probably act normal once he hit a whorehouse. She scowled for a second, torn between annoyance and relief.

"You sure you have space for us?" Jin asked. "Oh yeah. No problem." She said. "Follow me." She said, leading them away from the shrine. After a while in comfortable silence, Jin noticed her bag. "Let me carry that." He said. He started to take it from her when Mugen interrupted. "I got it." He said, taking it from Jin. Jin gave Mugen a look when Fuu wasn't looking. Mugen mumbled something that sounded something like "Shut up four eyes." .

"Here we are!" Fuu exclaimed suddenly, stopping at the gate of a house. "Is this some kind of boarding house?" Jin asked, thinking it was too big for only one person. And there was no way Fuu could afford a house. Unless she had married someone with one, but he didn't think she had. She grinned. "No. It belongs to this old lady I care for. She's pretty old, but nice." She informed them. "You sure the old broad will be fine with you bringing some strangers to stay with you?" Mugen asked. Fuu laughed. "I'm sure she won't mind. She knows about you two already anyway." She unlocked the gate and led them into the yard, which was green and neatly arranged with flowers, grass and a little pond with little fish in it. "You told her about us?" Mugen asked, sounding bored. "Yes. Lock the gate, would you?" She said as she unlocked the front door. Jin did as she asked.

She slid the door open and slipped off her shoes. "I'm home." She called. "Fuu?" a voice answered her. "Wait here. I'll be right back." She told them before rushing off to another room. "She's done well for herself." Mugen said taking in the house. "Hn." Jin responded.

Fuu entered a neat little room down the hall and to the right where an old lady lay in a bed on one side of the room. "I brought the food, Mrs. Anno." She said as she walked to the bed. "Do you feel a little better?" She asked as the woman coughed. "I'm fine dear. I told you to call me granny." She smiled and patted Fuu's hand. "Okay granny." She smiled fondly at the old woman, who was as close to a grandmother as Fuu ever had. She didn't know where her own grandparents were, but she felt she had none. Her parents had only mentioned them in passing before they had died. She had to assume they were dead too. She sat down next to the old woman and took her hand. "Remember those two swordsmen I told you about? The ones I traveled with?" Mrs. Anno smiled. "Of course dear." "Well, I met them today. They are back in town." "You did?" She looked reproachful. "Why didn't you ask them to stay with us? I'm surprised you didn't." She told Fuu. Fuu giggled. The woman sat up. "Oh, I've seen that look in your eyes before. You did, didn't you?" She smoothed her hair. "Help prop me up." She coughed and sat back against the wall as Fuu did as she was bid. "Well send them in. I want to see these friends of yours." She squeezed Fuu's hand as Fuu got up. "Mugen. Jin. In here." She called. Mrs. Anno swatted her with a fan. "Shouting at guests is rude." She said, smiling.

Mugen and Jin came in. Jin bowed and thanked her for taking in Fuu and giving her a job. Mugen just stared openly at her. She just stared right back at him steadily before addressing Jin. "Oh it was no trouble. You are such a polite young man." She smiled at him. "You are welcome to stay here as long as you like. I know it must get lonely for Fuu, tending to an old woman like me." "No granny. I don't mind. Really." She told Mrs. Anno. Mugen got up and started to leave. "Well, in any case, you must excuse me for not being more hospitable, but I'm not well enough to entertain properly. I'll let Fuu handle that." Jin thanked her again and followed Mugen out. Fuu made to go to the kitchen to get dinner started, but Mrs. Anno held onto the sleeve of her kimono. "Is that him, dear?" She said in hushed tones. Fuu nodded almost imperceptibly. Then she walked out to the kitchen, closing the door to the woman's room with a promise of food.

Before she went into the kitchen, she walked into the living room and swatted Mugen on the shoulder. "Why do you have to be rude to your host like that?" "What'd'ya mean?" He asked. "Staring at her and walking out? And not even saying hello? Where'd you learn manners, from a monkey?" She admonished. "Sorry. Must have slept in that class while I lived in _the Ryukyus_." He said sarcastically. "And what's with this high and mighty attitude? You ain't exactly a perfect vision of virtue either, you know." He growled at her. He towered over her menacingly. She put her hands on her hips. "Oh, you know a big word! Don't strain your brain too much!" She bit back. Jin sat quietly watching this exchange as he always did when they fought. "Why you little bitch!" "Watch your mouth in here; in cities people actually like their guests to have manners." She told him snidely. He fumed and then spun on his heel and walked out of the front door, slamming it behind him and not caring who heard. Fuu balled her fists. "I should sock him." She said before stomping into the kitchen. Jin followed her. As she began preparing dinner, Jin helped her. "He makes me so mad sometimes!" She fumed as she lit the hearth fire. She ranted as she pulled in water from the well, while she put the pot on the hook over the fire and started peeling and chopping vegetables with Jin. He let her rant until she was done. Then he spoke. "You have to admit; he _was_ being polite… for him. If he wasn't he would have left earlier or made rude comments, as usual." He let that sink in a little. "Yeah, but Jin…" She trailed off, thinking about it. "I'm not saying he was right, but you were a little mean yourself." "Yeah but he deserved it!" She said, eyes flashing. "Did he?" Jin said quietly, looking at the vegetable he was peeling. Fuu made an exasperated sound.

"Do you know he practically jumped me when he saw me the first time?" She told him. "What? He didn't…?" "No, he didn't hurt me." Fuu told him. "No, I meant…" "Oh." Fuu looked away, embarrassed. "He kissed me." She swallowed and nearly whispered "And then he….he went too far. If I didn't push him away, I…I don't…" She trailed off, too embarrassed to continue. "Shall I kill him for you?" Jin said as if he was just commenting on the weather, and only memories of a year of his company gave it away that he was only half serious. "No! Jin. I don't know what's up with him, but don't. Don't." She said. "Okay."

Fuu also told him how Mugen had stopped in the middle of a fight with her and just walked away, but Jin just pointed out that he fought with her tonight. He didn't tell Fuu about the ukiyo e print of her that Mugen carried around because he was sure the vagrant wouldn't thank him, and since he knew them it could result in a death match. He was not in the mood to kill his friend despite Mugen's treatment of Fuu.

He got up and left her to the rest of the cooking, as his help wasn't needed anymore. Plus he was always more help with prep work, than actual cooking. He untied his sleeves and walked outside. He was surprised to see Mugen sitting there. He had thought the vagrant had left to find some booze, women or something else he considered fun.

Jin sat next to him on the veranda. "What d'ya want four eyes?" "What did you do to Fuu? I mean when you met." Mugen swore. "Did the bitch tell you about that? I should kill her." Jin glared at him with steel eyes. "What did you do?" He repeated. Mugen looked at his expression. "I kissed her." He said nonchalantly, like it was nothing. "What else?" Jin asked. Mugen stared at him for a moment. Then he answered. "I felt her up a bit. ….And I put my knee between her legs." He glared at Jin. "What?! I should slice you in two." Jin told the pirate. Mugen snorted. "What possessed you to do it?" Jin growled. "I don't know. What makes anyone do that shit?" Mugen retorted. "You think it makes any sense to me? She's just a whiney, big mouthed brat who thinks she's better than me just because she was born on the mainland. And I don't go with girls who don't want to. I may be a bastard, but I don't like that shit. It ain't fun that way." Jin reverted back to his passive face. It made sense to him now. Mugen had slipped up in the heat of the moment. And he _was _clueless about he felt, or so it seemed. "Well make sure it doesn't happen again." He warned. "Pfft! As if it would!" Mugen scoffed. "Hn."

After a quiet dinner, Fuu handed the swordsmen futons and blankets, showed them their shared room, and pointed out the bathroom before heading to her room, which was next to the old woman's. She was still mad at Mugen, but her temper was wearing off. Still, she didn't feel like talking to either of them much tonight. She unrolled her futon and prepared for bed. She crawled into her futon after blowing out her candle.

Lying there in the dark, with nothing to keep her from thinking about it, she remembered his kisses, the feel of his hands on her, and then…. She blushed furiously and felt her body go hot. She rolled over. 'Yeah, whatever. Like it meant anything to him.' She didn't know what was worse; that it hadn't , or that she was reacting this way to it. How could he know how his lips had burned hers, how she wanted it for so long? But it meant nothing to him. She was just there when his horney factor kicked in to receive the brunt of it. She felt hot tears well in her eyes and brushed them away angrily. 'Stupid jerk!'

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Rate and review!

I'm having issues with number four because things in the chapter changed from what I originally planned as I was writing it, so I have to adjust it accordingly. But I think you fuggen fans will like it.


	4. Chapter 4: a little house in Niigata

Chapter 4: A little house in Niigata

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Warning: indecent exposure. Sadly, no lemons though.

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Mugen waited until he was absolutely sure that Jin was dead asleep before sneaking out of the room. He walked quietly, careful not to let the wooden floor squeak under his bare feet. He stood in front of the door to Fuu's room for a minute, listening. Her room was as silent as the rest of the house at this hour. He reached out to slide the door open, but his hand froze mid-air before it dropped back to his side. He slid down and sat against a wall with is knees up, staring out into space. He stayed like that until predawn began to form. Then he sneaked back into the room he shared with Jin and slid back under his futon and fell asleep before anyone got up. The last thing he needed was fish-face asking him questions he didn't have answers to himself.

A bleary-eyed Jin sat at the table as Fuu dished out breakfast. She set a bowl in front of him and two more for her and Mugen. Then she slid the door to their room loudly. Mugen groaned. "Breakfast is ready Mugen!" "Shut up girly. Just save me some." He groaned at her. Then he rolled over. "Hah! I can't make any promises there will be anything left by the time you get up." She told him. "Porky." He murmured with his eyes closed. "WHAT did you just call me?" "You heard me." He yawned. Fuu strode across to him in two steps and smashed the ladle she forgot she had been holding into his temple. He was up in a flash, snarling as he pinned her to the wall. "What THE FUCK, Fuu!" She crossed her arms, glaring. "Don't you call me porky!" She shoved past him and threw down the ladle hard as she ran outside of the house and slammed the door shut. He stormed out of the room. "What the fuck is up her ass?" He asked, pissed off and confused. Jin groaned. "It's too early for this." He muttered, looking at his breakfast with bleary eyes. "Girls are sensitive sometimes Mugen." He said. "What the fuck for? I call her that all the time. She never reacted like that before. And what the fuck was up with her clubbing me with a ladle?" Jin gagged. Then he swallowed his food and looked more awake. "So that's what that sound was." He put a hand to his temple, looking tired again. "Look, you go figure it out. I have no idea why, but right now, I don't care. Maybe when I'm more awake. Just leave me out of it and fix it yourself." He said. "Brr." Mugen grinned, surprised at the ronin's reaction. Then he frowned. He didn't want to talk to her. She was annoying and complicated. And Jin was the fix it guy. He was just the screw up.

He found her outside on the porch, sitting with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around them. What the fuck was she doing? Then he saw a tear slide down one hand. "Why the fuck are you crying, girly?" He asked, disturbed at the sight. Fuu didn't cry when he called her names. She didn't even look up when he spoke, which worried him. "Hey. Fuu. You okay?" He sat down next to her and shook her shoulder. She looked up at him slowly with tears streaming down her face. His chest got tight suddenly. Scowling, he pulled her to him and hugged her before either of them knew what happened. She pushed away from him weakly, but he just held her stronger. Then she was bawling into his shirt, soaking it thoroughly. He just scowled and let her cry.

After a while he sighed. "Dumb broad." He murmured. She pushed away from him and suddenly stood. "Yes, I _am_ dumb. I _know_ that!" She hissed angrily. What the fuck? "That was a compliment." He said, annoyed at her sudden mood swings. "Yeah, because being called dumb is a compliment!" She made to leave for the gate to the street, but he gripped her wrist. "What the fuck is up with this bipolar shit? And since when do you bludgeon me before breakfast? I seriously don't get it. You're not the same. You _don't_ cry when I call you names. So what the fuck is up your ass?" He told her angrily. "_I'm_ not the same? What about you? Mauling me when you first see me after years, especially when you've always made it repeatedly clear that I'm as flat as a plank and just as attractive, and then you back out of fights when you never do, and generally act weirder than normal. I just can't…" She stopped before pulling out of his grip, and ran out of the yard. She hadn't gotten farther than the next house over when she felt something yank her from behind, spin her around and shove her into the tall stone wall. "I don't have patience for fucking head games Fuu! Did it ever occur to you that I might have missed you when you were gone?" Mugen snarled, his face ridiculously close to hers. He suddenly blinked, whirled around and started walking away. She stared at him in surprise. Then he heard her voice speaking softly. "You did?" He stopped but didn't turn around. "No. Why the fuck would I miss you?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. She whirled him around. "Liar." She said when he wouldn't look in her eyes. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers and kissed him without thinking. He stood there dumbly while he finally started to understand what was happening.

Then he growled and was kissing her back, unable to stop himself. Wrapping his arms around her slender frame, he drank her lips, again, again, again, like a thirsty man drinking water after a trek through the desert. They finally came up for air, looking glassily at each other before Fuu's eyes widened in realisation of what they were doing. She started to struggle out of his embrace, but Mugen wasn't having any of it. "Where are you going, huh?" He growled against her neck, pulling her back to him. She sucked in her breath at the sensations his breath on the bare flesh of her neck caused her. Before she could recover and answer him, he was kissing her again, softer, slower this time. This time she was very aware how her breasts, stomach and thighs pressed against his, and felt like she was on fire. Still, she found she couldn't break off his kisses. But when his hands started to wander over her, she pulled away sharply. "No!" "Huh?" He said, dazed. "I'm not…ready." She told him. Suddenly sober, he looked at her for a minute. "Bummer." He muttered before letting her get out of his hold. They stood there, Fuu looking awkwardly at Mugen and Mugen looking expressionlessly at her, before both their stomach grumbled. Fuu laughed. Mugen chuckled and rubbed his stomach. "Come on. Let's go eat breakfast." She said and started walking back to the house. Suddenly she felt long rough fingers slide and twine in hers. His hand was warm in hers. She looked at Mugen in surprise. "Shut up." He mumbled, and stared at her as if daring her to take her hand away from his. She finally looked away, partly amused and partly unsure of how to feel or react to this. She shrugged mentally, and they walked into the house that way.

They found the main room empty except for their breakfast that was still on the table. The room had been straightened and the other dishes cleaned. "Granny!" Fuu exclaimed suddenly, remembering that she had forgotten to bring Mrs. Anno her breakfast before she stormed out. She dropped Mugen's hand and rushed to the old lady's room, only to find Jin kneeling next to her bed and talking with her. An empty bowl and chopsticks were sitting on the table next to the bed. They both turned when Fuu entered.

"I'm so sorry granny!" She exclaimed. "Don't worry dear. Jin has been keeping me company." Mrs. Anno smiled at her. "Did you make up with your young man then?" Fuu blushed. "I..I…I'm sorry I made such a fuss." Fuu stared at the ground. "Yeah, we 'made up'." Mugen said, choosing that moment to come into the room. He kissed Fuu lightly on the mouth, then slapped her ass and stared at the old woman, before walking out again. "MUGEN!" Fuu yelled after him, her face beet red. To Fuu's surprise, Mrs. Anno just laughed. Jin looked disturbed, but said nothing.

"My, he's spirited. Go eat your breakfast if you haven't, Fuu. Jin and I were in the middle of an interesting conversation." She winked at Fuu and shooed her out. Fuu shut the door, went to the living room and sat in front of her now cold breakfast. Mugen had already finished his and was lounging by the table, propped up on an elbow. He just lay there, watching her as she scarfed her breakfast down. Halfway through, he got bored and started playing footsies with her. "Quit it." She told him. He grinned and nudged her foot with his again. "I said quit it!" He raised an eyebrow at her. "What will you give me to make me stop?" "What? I don't know. Some of my food? Geez Mugen." "Not enough." He said. "Well what the hell do you want?" She asked in annoyance. "What will you give me?" He asked. "Geezus, I'll give you anything. Just stop messing with me so I can finish my breakfast!" She snapped. He was around on her side of the table in a flash. "Anything?" he grinned, leaning over her as he stroked the outside of her thigh through her kimono. The angle made her fall on her back. He kissed her. "Not that!" She said when he stopped, trying to push him away. He sighed and fell on her. "Get off me! Mugen? …Mugen?" He was snoring. She slowly managed to roll him over and then got up. "Geez!" She looked at his sleeping form. "What a pervert." "So what?" He answered softly, his eyes still closed. She jumped. "I thought you were asleep." But he was snoring again. "Eugh." She went back to finish her breakfast, but all she kept thinking about was his hands and the way they felt. The way his lips had possessed her mouth. She blushed. Shaking her head to clear it, she shoveled the rest of her breakfast into her mouth and ate with gusto.

Mugen slept through most of the day. When he woke, he smelled food cooking. It made him hungry, even though he had eaten before he fell asleep. Blinking, he found himself back in the room he had stayed in last night. He yawned and stretched, then sat up. This house certainly was one of the nicer places he had been to in the past two years. He had certainly never been in anybody's house as a freeloading guest before, unless it was for people who put him up as part of work, or for sex. He kind of liked it this way though. But he wouldn't stay forever. It felt like he could be tied down by a need to repay the old lady if he stayed too long. She seemed ballsy for an old lady, but Mugen didn't owe anyone anything. He didn't like to. It reminded him of being captive. He followed the smells into the kitchen.

Fuu was at the hearth with her back to him, cooking something over the fire, while Jin sat sipping tea at the table. Even the old broad was there, sitting on a cushion and propped up against a wall. Mugen knelt next to the table, close to Fuu and leaned in next to her ear. "What's for dinner, girly?" Fuu gasped in surprise and jumped a little. "Mugen!" She turned around and swatted his shoulder. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I forgot how quietly you can walk." He just grinned. She shook her head at him. "We're having fish curry tonight." She told him before turning back to the meal she was preparing. She spooned rice and curry into a bowl and gave it to Mrs. Anno before dishing out servings for the warriors and herself. Then she went over to help Mrs. Anno eat. While the woman was dressed and sitting up, it was soon clear she was barely in any shape to be out of bed, for all that she kept smiling, trying to make light conversation, and insisting she was fine when Fuu suggested she be brought back to her bed. She seemed to only be sitting upright because she was propped up against the wall, and could not lift the chopsticks for herself. Even chewing the food seemed like it was difficult for her. Mugen and Jin looked at each other. They each new that this woman was dying and that she probably wouldn't be around too much longer. Jin wondered if Fuu knew. But she didn't act distressed.

The stoic ronin downed his food and set his bowl and chopsticks aside. "Fuu, let me do that. You eat." He told her. Fuu nodded and handed Mrs. Anno's bowl and chopsticks to him before sitting down to her meal. But Mugen didn't miss the pause before she picked up her chopsticks and dipped them into her bowl. He could tell she knew. He frowned and then reached out and poked her hand. She looked at him. Seeing the serious look on his face, she leaned over and told him softly. "I'm fine. I know there's not…much…time…" She stopped and looked down. Mugen couldn't look at her anymore. He stood, stepped into his geta and angrily left the house as fast as he could. He needed to go for a walk.

Fuu looked at the door, surprised by his anger and by him leaving. Jin made no comment at all; he just kept feeding Mrs. Anno like nothing happened. But at the slam of the door he turned to watch Fuu. After a few moments, she started to eat again and Mrs. Anno asked why Mugen had left so suddenly, without finishing his dinner. Jin brushed it off by asking her about her family.

Later on that evening, Fuu sat in her bath, enjoying its warmth, but wondering why Mugen had seemed so mad when she got a little sad about Mrs. Anno. This also made her sad to think about. She had lost her mother and her father. Mugen and Jin were like family to her as well, but there were no guarantees with them. Someday Jin would go find Shino and who knows if she would ever see him again. And Mugen. He had inadvertently admitted to missing her these two years and he had kissed her, but she wondered what he would do. Would he leave her too at some point? She remembered his touches vividly, but even though she did want them, she was afraid to give him more. She was afraid of _it_, but she was also afraid that he would lose interest when he got what he wanted. She didn't know if he actually loved her. She wanted to think so, but he tended to follow his libido. What if that was all he wanted of her? And there was no way she could ask him. He would probably just skirt the issue or avoid her. But also, what if he kept going to whorehouses if she refused to give herself to him? Or worse; if she did? She knew there was no use in pretending she didn't love him. She had missed him too these past two years. She had talked about her feelings for him and some of her fears to Mrs. Anno before, but now Mrs. Anno was dying. It was as plain as daylight. And Fuu couldn't help but wonder if she'd be left all alone again. She wanted Mugen to love her. She wanted to be sure. But she couldn't push him. She couldn't expect anything more from him than he could give. She had no right to expect anything from him. And Fuu certainly couldn't ask him to change his nature for her. She sighed.

Just then the door to the bathroom slid open, and the man in question walked in. Mortified, Fuu leaned forward to hide her nudity as best as she could. "Well, I guess it's occupied." He drawled. "Mugen!" She yelled at him. "There you are." He grinned at her attempt to cover herself up. "You could learn to knock." She told him. "Nah. This is more fun. Besides, like you said, you used to be flat as a board. Why not prove that wrong and show me what you got? " "Erg! No. You're such a pervert." "Yup." He said unrepentantly. She sighed in exasperation. "Well, would you please leave?" She pointed at the door. He shrugged his shoulders. "Fine." He walked back to the door and she sighed in relief. Then she realized he was shutting the door while still in the room. "Mugen?" She asked nervously. "You know, I'm pretty dirty and I want to take a bath." He said. He freaked her out completely when he quickly removed his jacket and shirt. "Mugen…." She warned. Then she screeched "What the hell!" As he dropped his pants, stepped out of them, and stood there naked in front of her. "Go ahead, enjoy the view." He told her, before Jin burst in, a hand on his sword hilt. He immediately covered his eyes, muttering "Oh god, cannot unsee.". Then he glared at Mugen. "Oh for the love of…What is WRONG with you?" "Just showing her the merchandise." Mugen shrugged nonchalantly, not bothering to cover up. "Well, would you put it away?" Mugen shrugged and put back on his pants. "Don't be so uptight, four eyes." He told the ronin as he picked up the rest of his discarded clothes. "If you think that flashing a bathing woman is romantic or something, I've got news for you." Jin told him, leading him away and shutting the bathroom door, as Fuu hid her bright red face in embarrassment in the side of the tub.

"What's romance got to do with it?" Mugen asked; a bored look on his face. Jin ignored this. "You may as well have told her you want to sleep with her." Jin told him. "Wasn't going to do nothing. I just wanted to distract her. You think she'll forget seeing _that_ any time soon?" He was half lying about his motives, but he didn't care. Jin knew he meant he had been trying to distract her from her sadness over Mrs. Anno. While this completely surprised him, he wasn't buying Mugen's purely selfless routine. Through this stunt, Mugen had made his intentions for Fuu known very plainly. "Be that as it may, be careful with her. She isn't one of your red-light district whores." "Fuck you. You think I don't know that?" Mugen answered. "From how you acted just now, I'm having my doubts." He left Mugen. Mugen frowned slightly and rolled his eyes. "You don't know much for a know-it-all." He muttered when the ronin was out of earshot.

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Thank you all my reviewers. I love hearing what you think, even the constructive criticism. It helps me improve, since no one has done it since my lovely grammar (etc) nazi sister went to live in japan.

Soul Raider 116: Yes, I have a rebellious relationship with that first rule. Mostly because I tend to find wring it that way annoying, I guess. *^^ You'd have to make a new 'paragraph' every sentence or two. I find it takes away from any emphasis(s) I want to make. So sometime I follow it, but definitely not as strictly as in published books. I wish I knew how to do it better without butchering things I want to highlight (events, words said). Any tips? I suspect the second issue has mostly to do with laziness 'till now. At least in my other work. But I'll try to fix it. Also, in this its difficult to describe the guys reactions because they are so poker faced, and don't react so often. I thought that throwing in random stuff in like 'He said, yawning.', etc...were just painfully obvious things to tack onto the 'hes said' she said' s. There's only so many ' "blah, blah.'" he yawned.' (etc.) that I can think of that he'd do. Do you have a few examples? Writing a story is tons of fun, but can be taxing too, as you probably know. The above chapter was done before you I read you review. Due mostly to time constraints, I have not tried to fix this chapter.

Thanks for the input. I really do appreciate it.

Mugen is not pissed at Jin at the end of this chapter, for the record.


	5. Chapter 5: Mugen's plan

Chapter 5: Mugen's plan

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Warning: Lemons. Yes, the long awaited lemons have arrived. Enjoy them, you pervert. ^.^

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The next morning, Fuu woke up and dressed, dreading facing Mugen again. She fully expected him to accost her again after his _display_. Blushing at the memory, she covered her face. She had never seen a man's…_part_….before, for all that she was seventeen and most girls her age were married and mostly likely had. It was like Jin had said: she could not un-see. The memory of him standing there…naked….It made her body go hot and tingly in ways in a way that she had never felt before. It was not unlike when he had kissed her outside, their bodies locked together…. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of something, anything, else.

She didn't like it. She didn't like her body responding in foreign ways. Especially when it came to him. More than that, Fuu didn't like that she knew she would let him do whatever he wanted if he really pressed her. She was not only afraid of … _doing it_. She was afraid she wouldn't get what she really wanted from him if she gave herself to him. Finally she made herself leave her bedroom and walked into the living room.

Jin was cooking, to her surprise. He usually helped out when he could, but she was used to doing the cooking for Mrs. Anno. She had forgotten how they had shared the task when they had traveled. Mugen was lounging by the table, sleepily waiting for his breakfast.

When Jin saw her, he served up her breakfast and handed it to her. "Thanks." She mumbled and sat down nervously next to Mugen. But he didn't make any moves on her the whole meal. She assumed he was just tired. He wasn't much of a morning person.

For the next week Mugen acted as if he had never showed her his junk. He kissed her lightly once, and argued with her like always, but that was it. He wasn't distant per say, just seemingly not into holding her and kissing her deeply, or finding excuses to touch her. She would never admit it, but she found this distance increasingly aggravating, and also found herself envisioning his nude form more often than she wanted, even though Mrs. Anno was getting worse every day, both of which made her increasingly anxious.

Then Mugen started to go out all day without saying where he was going or when he'd be back. Her heart sank when he did this, sure that he had gone off to find a more _interesting_ woman, who wouldn't spurn his advances. Sometimes Jin would go out during the day too, but he told her he was looking for work. Still, Fuu was secretly worried they'd leave her again. She'd gotten used to the safety and familiarity of them being in her life again.

One day after being gone for part of the morning, Mugen found Fuu in the garden, kneeling over some flowers. Her kimono's sleeves were tied back. "What 'cha doing girly?" Fuu turned, surprised. Her features lit up in happiness. "Mugen!...Oh. Well, I'm clearing the weeds." "What?" He squat down and looked at the green plants in one of her hands. Her hair was coming slightly loose; the tendrils wisping around her sweat covered face. She had a smudge of dirt across her cheek. She looked pretty damn sexy and he found himself staring. He had found that purposefully holding himself back with her all this time was very hard for him. But he was banking on it being worth it. "You see, these are weeds." She gestured to the plants in her hand. "I have to clear a space around each flower or the weeds will eventually choke them to death." He smirked. Sounded like his whole life. "Yeah?" "Well, that's all I'm doing for now, but I'll water them later…." Her explaining things to him in this animated and happy way certainly beat her yelling at him, though he had always liked that she had the balls to fight with him, especially when she looked too frail to beat anyone at anything. She prattled on and on about the flowers…seriously, what was with this girls obsession with flowers?... as he half listened and half watched her mouth move, tempting him. Mugen could watch her mouth all day.

Finally he couldn't take it anymore. He reached out and grabbed her chin and pressed his lips to hers; first firmly but sensually, and then lightly. Her happiness made her forget for a moment that she was worried, but she remembered as his kiss began to recede. She pushed him away and got up. "What's wrong, babe?" He asked. It couldn't be his kissing. He had never gotten any complaints.

Hearing him call her babe made her tempted to tell him it was nothing and to kiss him back, but it was probably what he called all the women he had been with. That made her angry again. "What's wrong? You come back from some raunchy escapades and expect me not to be pissed when you treat me like one of those women?"

He stared at her for a second before he grinned. "You've got a dirty mind, girly. Raunchy escapades, huh?" He flicked her forehead. "I was out workin', so you know. I haven't had any sex in a while. I could use some _raunchy escapades_…if you're offering." Fuu glared at him, confused, happy, annoyed, and suspicious, all at the same time. "_You_? You went a whole week or more without women? Why would I believe something like that?" Mugen rolled his eyes. "Have some faith in me, would 'ja? And can't you tell when I've come from a whorehouse by now? I probably smell like sex or some shit. You tell me." She raised an eyebrow, but appraised him visually before sniffing near him. Unable to smell anything but the usual smell of Mugen, she visibly relaxed. "See?" Fuu shrugged.

Mugen grinned. "Why? Does it bother you that I might go fuck other women?" "Whatever." Fuu huffed, her cheeks burning as she walked away. "Oh, so I should? Okay then." Mugen started walking towards the gate. She grabbed his wrist to stop him. "No!" Now he was grinning widely as he turned towards her. "No huh?" He grabbed her around the waist with both arms and held her tight against his chest. "I'll wait 'till you're ready." He whispered softly, nuzzling her neck. "How's that treating you like _those _women?"

The words pierced her heart like a sword. She nearly fainted, hearing that from him. She never expected him to say anything like it. So, for a moment she thought she was still dreaming in her futon. But she wasn't. He _had_ said it. He had just admitted that he cared for her more than one of his easy women. "You …love me?" She whispered, half afraid he'd say no, but needing to hear the words.

Shrugging his shoulders, he looked at her unblinkingly. "Dumb broad." Then he grinned. Finally she understood what he meant. She kissed him sweetly. "Dumb enough." She responded, smiling stupidly. "Mmph." He responded, kissing her again. She didn't protest when he slide his tongue into her mouth. When she let out a small moan as he stroked her tongue with his, he felt himself harden. He wanted to touch her so bad.

"Please." She begged. His eyes went wide in surprise as she tentatively slid her hand under his shirt and swept it upwards, something he hadn't expected her to do. Fuu wanted him to have sex with her. He looked down into her eyes. "Are you sure?" She blushed deeply, but nodded. "Once I get started I ain't going to stop, so you know." "That's the idea." Fuu said softly, looking down. "Damn, girly." He was already getting very turned on. "I guess you'll want to do it inside." He easily scooped her up into his arms and carried her inside. She was so damn light. She blushed at his casual way of speaking about having sex with her. She was still a virgin after all. The very thought of what they were about to do terrified her, and for a few seconds she thought very seriously about changing her mind. "You don't have to carry me." "Why not?" He slid open the door with one foot and carried her down the hall to her bedroom. "It's weird." "It's sexy." He smirked. Fuu didn't know what to say.

After opening her bedroom door with his foot, he set her on her feet to slide the door closed, as she got out and unrolled her futon automatically. Her hands were shaking. How did her day suddenly turn out like this?

He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Last chance to skip out." He said into her ear, causing her to shiver. Though she trembled, she shook her head.

Although he would never admit it, Mugen was also a bit nervous. Not about his sexual prowess, but because this was Fuu, and she was a virgin to boot. He didn't want to hurt her. Anybody else and he wouldn't give a damn. He was used to being rough, which was how he usually liked it. This would probably be different than with the brothel girls he was used to. He'd have to be more careful. Though it was obviously her first time and she was shaking visibly, she wasn't backing down. He fucking loved that ballsy streak she had.

As he kissed her neck, he murmured "Try to relax and enjoy yourself." "Go easy on me." She breathed. Kissing and nibbling his way up her neck to her ear, he sucked on the lobe and she gasped. "Not sure I can promise that." He smirked.

Large fingertips ran over cloth as Mugen stroked her midriff with one hand and the other searched out the ends of her obi. Fuu helped him undo it as well as her breast bindings. The long strips of cloth fell to the floor, forgotten in a second as he dipped a hand into the hanging cloth of her kimono to touch bare skin. The hand on her stomach seared like fire. It swept upwards to cup a breast. "Damn. They do exist." Mugen peered over her shoulder and moved the kimono so her shoulder was bare. He kissed it, before tugging both sides down to fully expose her breasts. He grinned at the sight. "Of course they do…ohhhhh!" she moaned as he stroked a nipple and began to rub it between his thumb and pointer finger. Grinning and completely turned on by her reaction, he did the same to her other nipple. "Jeez fuu, I just touched you and you're already moaning?" He let the garment fall and pool around her ankles. "Mmmph." She was too aroused to do anything about the embarrassment she felt at being fully naked with him able to see her. Feeling the cloth of his shirt, and the muscled torso underneath press against her back, she closed her eyes.

Suddenly he wasn't touching her. She turned around to see him removing his shirt and jacket, before tossing them aside. She felt like a rabbit waiting to be devoured, as he leaned over her with unveiled lust in his dark eyes. She had never seen it directed at her before. It sent a thrill of fear and tingling excitement through her. He kissed her softly, almost reassuringly, then licked her lips and thrust his tongue in as he cupped her breasts again. His eyes widened in surprise as she tentatively started rubbing his tongue with hers in response. He grinned into her kiss as he got harder. Lifting her up, he laid her down on the futon before removing his shorts. When he lowered his naked body over her hers, fuu tensed and felt a heat grow in her lower parts. But Mugen had returned to exploring her skin with his hands; slowly touching, stroking, teasing. Kami, she loved those hands and the things he did with them. It stuck her that Mugen was being uncommonly gentle.

Then he lowering his head over her breast and took her hard nipple in his mouth and began to lick it. Fuu gasped. His fingers traced fire over her skin, lower, lower, until he reached a mat of soft curls. He started to rub the nub he found there, and fuu began to writhe. "Uhhh." She moaned. He sucked on her nipple and watched her back arch. "Damn. You're already so wet." He removed his hand from her and replaced it with his penis. He rubbed her clit with his swollen member before moving it lower.

Mugen suddenly slammed himself in all the way to the hilt and fuu clenched her teeth hard to keep from screaming as he tore her hymen, without success.

She was so damn tight.

Fuu clawed his back. Mugen stopped moving. "Fuu?" She gasped for breath. "Don't stop." Breathing heavily, she shuddered, but was determined to continue. Mugen obeyed, pulling out only to thrust again. She didn't scream again. His thrusting started taking on a rhythm.

Electricity coursed through fuu, building momentum with every thrust. "Mugen." She moaned, wrapping her legs around him in an attempt to get closer. Their slick, sweat soaked bodies slid against each other. His shaft throbbed harder at her impassioned cry, and he began to thrust faster. "Yes. Yes, Mugen. Faster. Thrust harder!" Fuu cried, feeling the pleasure within her body climbing. She started thrusting back. "Damn Fuu." He felt himself approach the edge as he complied. "Mugen, Mugen, Mugen." She chanted with every thrust, as she quivered; feeling like she was climbing towards something she desperately wanted, but didn't know what it was. Suddenly the sensation of water pouring over her head overwhelmed her and her mind blanked out. Her back arched as she came, squeezing so hard on his shaft that it tipped him over the edge and he came hard and long, then thrusted a couple more times as he emptied into her.

He fell on her, panting. After a few seconds he rolled off of her. She lay there panting as hard as him. She snaked an arm over his waist. He grinned at the ceiling. "So that's what sex is like." "Yep." He turned and wrapped her in his arms. Normally he'd be up and dressed in a flash, or turning her over to start again. But he secretly liked laying here with her arms around him and breathing in her scent.

Reveling in the afterglow, she felt sore but happy. "I love you." She told him, not caring at the moment how he'd react. He was quiet so long she though he hadn't heard or had fallen asleep. "Me too." He finally said. "Mugen." She punched his shoulder. "What was that for?" He said, propping himself up on an elbow, watching her cautiously. "Were you joking?" "What do you mean?" he sighed in annoyance. "Did you mean you love yourself, or me?" She clarified. He grinned and shook his head. "The second thing." He muttered. She reached up and kissed him deeply. It took some effort to pull himself away.

When they parted he sat up. "Why do you?" He said quietly. He didn't voice the question he really wanted to ask. _How can you love a killer?_ She was surprised by his serious tone. "Because," she reached up hesitantly, stopped halfway, paused; unsure he'd welcome her affection, and then reached out to stroke his face. He didn't move, but he flinched slightly. "you're so tough, and you don't take crap from anyone. Because you are a bastard. A sexy bastard." She grinned at his look of surprise at her choice of words and plunged on. "You were there for me when I needed you to be. You saved me when...I thought you wouldn't come. I love everything you are Mugen. The good and the bad. You've seen the stuff you've seen and are still strong enough to not have gone cracked. I wish I could be that strong." He swooped in and kissed her as she was finishing speaking. When he pulled away, he put his hand on her head and pushed her down. He rolled onto his stomach. "Don't wish it. I don't want you like me. You can be a pain in the ass, but I like you the way you are." He knew the fire he was forged in would kill her. He…needed her too much to let that happen. "You're being very open for you. Do you have a fever?" She teased, sitting up to put a hand to his forehead. He grabbed her wrist and pushed her back down on the futon. "Shut up girly." He licked her neck on the pulse and she shivered, her body tingling again in remembrance of their lovemaking. "What makes you think you can trust me? I'm dangerous." He growled. "I don't. What makes you think you can trust me?" she watched his reaction as she fanned her hands over the rippling cords of his stomach muscles and upwards to brush past his nipples. He hissed. "Damn." "You're hard again." She grinned. "Couldn't tell. Play with fire and you get burnt." He remorselessly plunged into her again and thrust, but fuu rolled them and ended up on top. It didn't hurt this time. She shook her hips up and down. "You sure you're a virgin?" He panted as he enjoyed watching her boobs bouncing. They weren't huge, but he still liked them. Reaching out, he grabbed and fondled them. "I'm sure I'm not." Panting, she kissed him. He grinned and squeezed her ass. When she squealed in surprise, he rolled her under him again. He thrust his hips twice slowly, then slowed to an agonising pace. "Mugen…Don't stop." "Don't stop what fuu?" "You know what!" she cried out in frustration. "If you want me to fuck you, you have to tell me." "Don't be crude. Stop teasing me and just do it!" "Come on fuu. 'Mugen, I want you to fuck me.' It's not that hard." He moved minutely, grinning like the devil. "Uhh." "I'll keep teasing you till you say it." He warned. "Damn it, Mugen. I …want you to fuck me." He grinned evilly. "With what?" "Mmmph. With… with your man part." "Man part? It's called a dick." "I'm…mmm…going to…uhhhh…kill you… later." She panted. He stopped completely. "No! Just fuck me already; fuck me hard." She saw the look he gave her. "Damn it, Mugen! Fuck me with your dick. Fuck me now!" No sooner were the words out of her mouth when he did as she asked; thrusting hard and deep into her body. She came suddenly and hard, at the same time as him, her breasts pressing into the hard plane of his chest as electricity coursed through them.

Spent, they laid panting as their sweat mingled together. Finally, Fuu tried to push him off of her. He rolled them to the side, but didn't let her go. "Lets just lay like this for a bit, okay?" "Do you _want _me to get pregnant?" He pulled out of her in a flash and sat up, a disturbed look on his face. "I get it." He said tersely. Sitting up, she put her arms around him and laid a cheek on his shoulder. "Maybe someday, when I can offer more than…" "I said get it!" Mugen pulled away. Getting up he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed, scowling. "Mugen…" She got up and walked over to him. She reached out to put a hand on his arm, but he pulled away from her. Crossing her arms she scowled back at him. "Seriously, Mugen? I'm taking herbs against pregnancy, I'll have you know! I was just concerned that even herbs wouldn't help if we laid like that very long!" "…What?" "You heard me." The corner of his lips quirked up a little. "…Yeah…but…taking them since when? Were you _planning_ to sleep with me?" Then his eyes narrowed as he glared. "Or were you planning to fuck someone else?"

At his expression, Fuu couldn't help herself. She began to giggle. Wiping a tear from her eye, she grinned at him. "With you." "But… you had boyfriends before?" "Nope. Never. There was this guy who I worked with once who kept giving me flowers, but I never even went out with him. A bit late to be asking me this, don't you think? What if I already had one when you showed up out of the blue and kissed me?" He ignored this. "Why not?" She put her hands on her hips, and sighed in annoyance. Turning away, she studied the wall for a moment. "Because he wasn't you." She admitted softly. She could feel, but not see his smile.

"And Jin?" He stared at her bare backside. She scoffed openly at this. "I couldn't be with him if I wanted to. He's still crazy about that Shino woman. I made my peace with that a long time ago." She turned and walked up to him. "Besides, it's you I want, so stop worrying."

"I'm not worried. …What you talking about?" "Pfft. Shut up and kiss me." Mugen shook his head. "'Kay. But no kids. Keep taking those herb thingies you mentioned." With that he leaned in and kissed her as requested. She didn't bother asking him why he was so adamant about not having kids, knowing that he wouldn't tell her. It probably had to do with his past. And since she didn't want any either yet, it didn't really matter what his reasons were. She'd cross that bridge if they ever got that far.

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Hi all, hope you liked the lemons.

Note that Mugen generally kept away from Fuu on purpose to torment her into wanting him enough to not be able to resist him anymore. I think he's smart enough for a plot like that.

He hadn't seen her for two years but (at least in this version) it drove him to the point where, when he saw her again, he just didn't want to keep away from her anymore. The absence of her presence made him really miss (and want) her. At first sight he can't help himself with her, but then he tries to forget about it and pretend he didn't miss her. But when she kisses him, he drops all that and wants to get everything he can from her (and yes, he's totally horny. Come on, he is Mugen). But from his teasing her, he can tell shes not going to give it up easy. So he makes a plan to speed things up. This is why he 'leaves her alone' after the time he strips in front of her.

I took this long posting this chapter because i was trying too hard to improve it, but i gave up so i could just post it. I know what its like to wait too long for the next chapter of a story.

Thank you to all who reviewed.

Keep reviewing and rating.


	6. Chapter 6: Reflections

Chapter 6: Reflections

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Warning: No lemons. Some raunchy stuff though. (I think that's called lime, right? *^^)

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When they finally emerged from the room, it was the sunlight was slightly waning and Jin was back; cooking in the kitchen with a twitchy look on his face. Mugen grinned at this. "What's for supper four-eyes?" Jin glared at him. "Burdock and rice." He shot Fuu a look. She blushed, unbearably embarrassed; realising that he must have heard them. "I'll go and check on Mrs. Anno."

She entered the woman's room and approached the figure sleeping on the bed. She checked her pulse, and was relieved to find one. Her breathing was so shallow, she almost thought…. "Fuu?" Mrs. Anno whispered. "I'm sorry, I'll let you rest." Fuu turned to leave. "Wait. I have something for you. It's the parchment on the table." Fuu picked it up. "Read it."

As she did, Fuu's eyes widened. "You can't give me your house! Your kids won't allow it. It belongs to them!" "Nonsense dear, they care so little about their old mother. You are more family than they have ever been. When have they even visited? No. I choose for it to be you dear. Who'd appreciate the old house better than you? And I'd feel better if you had somewhere to stay when I'm gone. You shouldn't have to travel again. It's not safe. I'm also giving you some money. If you are careful I'm sure you can manage. Anyway, it's too late for them to contest it. It's legally binding." Tears welled in Fuu's eyes. "I don't know what to say." She hugged Mrs. Anno gently. "Thank you." Fuu whispered, overwhelmed by the woman's kindness. Mrs. Anno patted her hand weakly. "I'm just sorry I won't get to spend more time with you, dear." Fuu couldn't help the tears that fled from her eyes.

In the other room, Jin let the food cook itself as he rounded on Mugen. "Didn't I warn you to be careful with her?" "I was." Mugen grinned like the devil. Jin wiped his hands on his pants and clicked open the blade from the sheath of his katana. Mugen's eyes narrowed and his hand flew to the hilt of his sword. "You gonna fight me now that I screwed her? Can't you at least wait until after dinner?" Jin slid the katana back in the sheath all the way, but his temple twitched. "If you were anyone else, you would be honor bound to marry her." Jin stated flatly. Mugen turned ashen and speechless. Finally he said, louder than he intended; "I ain't marrying her! I ain't marrying anyone! Ever!" "Which is why you should have thought of her reputation first." Jin dished out the food, glaring at it as if the plates of food had committed some felony. "Tch." Mugen walked outside onto the balcony and shut the front door.

The truth was, Jin wasn't telling him something he hadn't already thought about, except the marrying bit. He scratched his head furiously at the thought.

But when he saw her again for the first time in two years, he found himself kissing her before he knew what he had done. Even though he felt he broke a taboo that should never be broken, and even though it was weird as hell that he had done it, he secretly wanted to kiss her again. But he knew he never would. He wasn't going to, no matter what. He meant to go on as he always had and not treat her like a woman. He didn't even know why he'd done it. Back then he excused it as him not visiting a brothel lately, but why would he kiss Fuu of all people, even then?

Then something had snapped in him the moment she had first kissed him of her own volition. It was as if someone had pushed open the doors to the great self-control he had held tightly shut, and he found himself kissing her again. After that, he could barely contain himself, and he didn't want to, except this was Fuu.

He never meant to mess with her, unlike what Jin was insinuating. Hell, he never intended to kiss her, much less sleep with her. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but he couldn't stop himself until …well he hadn't known until _what _until the moment they had slept together. He had flashed her as she bathed, doing the only thing he could think of to get her to think of sleeping with him, and even that hadn't been properly thought out. He hadn't wanted to think about why he was doing it.

But now it was too late to go back. Mugen didn't know anything about honor, but he hoped Fuu didn't think he was going to marry her because he slept with her. He didn't want any ball and chain weighing him down, whatever the reason.

He knew he wasn't good for her, he knew it. He'd known it all along. He also knew that danger and trouble would always find him, and her too if she tagged along with him too long. He wasn't the settling down kind of guy and he certainly wasn't husband material. His life was never going to be normal. _He_ was not normal and never would be. His hands were stained with the blood of thousands of men. No matter how he washed them, his hands would always be stained in the red of their blood. Maybe he had forgotten that in the moment, but he couldn't afford to forget it.

Scratching his head furiously again, he realised he had told her "I love you." Not in as many words, but somehow she had understood. He wouldn't have admitted to it, except she had looked so anxious when she asked. He had meant it, but did that mean he was going soft? "Rrr!" Pulling out his sword and he started slicing and spinning with it. He practiced till he got tired of it, then sheathed his sword and did push ups, push ups with his body vertical and his head down, flips, kick, and punches.

He didn't know why he had meant what he said to her. She was whiny and annoying, she nagged all the time, she was a miser with the purse strings and an overeager glutton. And Mugen had never had a reason to know what love was. So why did he feel he hadn't lied?

But…she was Fuu.

He didn't quite understand why a kiss from that inexperienced whiny virgin (ex-virgin, he amended with a grin) had set him off his game so hard. He'd kissed many broads, many with much better racks and figures, and none of them had decimated his self-control in a second like she had.

Then he thought of her running to save him from sara, of waking up from near death after the pirate ship exploded to find her ministering to his wounds. Her hands had been a soothing balm, cooling his forehead. He thought of the psycho with claws who fought him on the boat to Ikitsuki island saying 'If you don't hurry, I don't know what they'll do to her." and how he felt fear and anger press on him, compelling him to destroy his opponents and hurry to find her. He remembered the moment he'd reached the church to find her tied and beaten. The feeling of cool rage that had washed over him at the sight. He remembered saving her time and time again from kidnappers. He remembered it all.

He would not let anyone hurt the brat. Whether he had destroyed her or not by being with her, she was his now, and it was too late to pretend otherwise or take it back. He'd just have to make sure he didn't taint her any more than could be helped.

And, partially grinning and half annoyed, he knew he couldn't tease her about being as flat as a board anymore. Imagining her naked form and their coupling, he found himself relaxing.

Fuu walked out onto the porch. "You pervert! Stop grinning like an old lecher, and come have dinner before it gets cold!" "Shut up girly! I'm coming already." 'Jeez she knows how to nag!' he thought as he walked back inside and had his dinner.

"I'm not old. Four-eyes here is older 'n me, you know." "At least he's not a lecher." "Hmm." Jin agreed as pointedly as you can using a one syllable sound to do so. "Yeah right! He had himself some old whores, even after trying to run off with that chick from the whore house." "I thought you were in love with that shino lady, Jin." Fuu said. Jin adjusted his spectacles. "Hmm." " So, then why…" "I'm not discussing it." "See? He's just as perverted as me, he's just doesn't want to admit it. 'N even I never touched no old bags." Fuu gave Mugen a look that could curdle cream. Jin chose to ignore them for his mental sanity. "What?" "You don't still…?" He gave her a look. "Yes, now that you mention it, I've been fucking every willing woman since I got to town." He put his hands on his hips. "Seriously Fuu? You don't trust me? Right now I'm as monogamous as any sad pansy out there, and it's all your damned fault." He pointed at her and grinned. "So you better own up later." She blushed. "The walls are paper thin." Jin commented. Stuttering, Fuu mumbled something incoherent and ran off to Mrs. Anno's room again.

Later on, Jin sat on the porch, enjoying the fair weather. It was still day outside by the light, though it was slowly setting into sunset. He leaned back against the house's wall and looked out onto their quiet street. It was nice to stay here like this. But none of them really thought it could last. The warriors could not linger in a dying old lady's home forever. Jin knew they were just waiting, for Fuu's sake, until the old lady passed into the care of death. Nothing in their lives ever were certain or constant, except the traveling they had done. He would wait to see what his companions decided to do.

The truth was he was genuinely glad that they had surpassed their barriers to being together, though he was surprised it had happened so fast. But he worried for them, all the same. Especially for Fuu. She was likely to get emotionally hurt being with Mugen, but then that was always what would happen if they were together. Mugen has a lot of issues he didn't trust anyone with. It was surprising that they already were lovers, though it had been little over a week since they'd reunited. It had seemed that Mugen was reluctant to do more than finger her picture and keep denying his feelings for her for the whole time they traveled together without her, so it was curious that that had all suddenly changed the morning Fuu had run out of the house.

Jin thought back to the times he'd caught Mugen fingering her ukiyo-e picture in his pocket during the year they'd traveled together. If he'd never fell in love with Shino himself, perhaps he wouldn't have noticed.

They were so temperamental…so openly emotional, that they always clashed over needless things. What would happen when they clashed about important things? But Jin supposed that only Fuu could be the one to penetrate Mugen's inner barriers, if anyone could. Love had done it for him, and he had felt the cold harshness that was his heart thaw gradually because of it. Mugen and he both understood the harshness of a solitary, guarded life. The burden of killing endlessly, that only those that killed could know or understand. If they had never met Fuu, they would have just become impossibly hard until they died. But they had both opened up gradually in her presence. Something about her had warmed them, which was something he thought could never happen. He had found some measure of peace with them, for all their bickering. He doubted Mugen was unaware of this, at least on an instinctual level, but he was slow to evolve, which most people naturally are. Mugen was undoubtedly slower, owing to his harsh past. If fuu could be patient with him, who knows what would happen?

And Jin was realizing that he couldn't protect Fuu from heartbreak or her own choices. But she was tougher than she seemed, despite her vulnerabilities. Didn't they all have some of those to contend with? She had the spirit of a samurai. She would persevere. He grinned quietly.

His thoughts turned to another woman. He still had a year left before he could go for Shino. The truth was, he didn't know what he'd do next after he found her. And marry her, if that was possible given the government's dislike of him for killing his master. But that didn't really bother him. The unknown usually didn't. Still he couldn't help but miss her.

When Fuu returned to her room after checking on Mrs. Anno, she found Mugen there, laying out his futon next to hers, though she hadn't set her futon up herself. She hadn't thought of them sharing a room, or sleeping sleeping together. This was going to take some getting used to. "It's not bed time yet you know." He looked up and grinned, setting the sheets on the futon and straightening them. "Maybe not." He growled and gave her that hunter-stalking-its-prey look that sent shivers up her spine, which he'd given her before they'd first slept together. She felt her knees go weak and had to force herself not to sink to her knees. Then he grinned, advancing on her. "You're blushing like crazy." When he got close enough, she punched his shoulder. Embarrassed, she glared at him. "Anyone would, with you looking at them like that." Rubbing his shoulder, he smirked. Turning serious, he changed the way he looked at her in a flash. "What. Like this?" At this close distance to him, feeling his body heat with his face hovering close to hers looking at her that intensely, she felt her knees go weak again. She slid to the ground without warning, but he caught her in one smooth motion. "Whoa." "You did that on purpose you jerk!" "Well, yeah." He set her on her feet, still holding her. "Why, are you wet already?" Mugen had never seen any woman fall to the floor because of him before. It had surprised him, and turned him on more. "Kami, you're so…" "Perverted? Of course I am. You already know that." He traced designs on the bare skin of her arm.

She wanted to close off thoughts of the world and just kiss him. To just succumb to his touches. She felt that bank minded desire burning in her, but there was one question burning her mind. She forced herself to focus on it though the haze of desire. "Why do I…uh…turn you on?" She looked down. He grinned and whispered like it was a secret "Because you look good naked...and feel good." She blushed again, flattered and embarrassed at the same time.

She pushed out of his embrace. "No, I mean, before we…uh…did it. You've always said I'm as flat as board." He sat down, cross legged on the futon. "I dunno. When you kissed me…I…sort of…I dunno… snapped." She sat down on her knees in front of him. "Snapped? Am I that good a kisser?" she teased. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. For a virgin." She slapped his arm, louder than hard. "Stop hitting me, woman. It wasn't just the kiss and I dunno why it turned me on. Why is the sky blue? It just did, okay?" She studied him for a moment. "Fair enough."

He teasingly flicked her arm. "Why do _I_ turn _you_ on?" he batted the question back at her. It was her turn to grin. Mischievously, she slowly lowered her kimono down to expose her ivory shoulders. "Because you're good with your…hands." She said meaningfully. His eyes flew wide in surprise for a second. She had made a sexual innuendo. "Damn you surprise me, girly. If I had known you were this much fun, I might have tried to get in your pants earlier." "Yeah, but would you have kept pursuing me after one night? And I've never been like this before you." "You weren't, that's true. And no, I don't thinks so. You know me." He fell silent, thinking about that. After a moment, she broke into his thought. "So why are we back here again? Why did you put our futons together?" He frowned. Hadn't he already explained things to her? "You're my woman now." He shrugged.

Her sudden smile lit up her face and twisted his insides. Closing the distance between them, he reached out to touch her.

"Why now? Didn't the shogun let matters drop? Why tie up the loose ends now?" "It's irrelevant. The shogun has his reasons." The tall man told his assistant. "I have my orders. And that is all." The younger official with round spectacles adjusted them as he trailed after his master. "Have they been located?" "Yes, our spies place them in Niigata. I've already sent the dragon clan after them. We will know the outcome shortly." "Isn't that a little extreme?" "Why? They defeated Sara and Kariya Sama. We must stamp them out quickly while they are unaware we pursue them." "But sir, won't the dragon clan be engaging them in civilian territory?" "Kito, remember that these are high caliber felons. We must sometimes make sacrifices for the greater good." Kito pursed his lips but said nothing.

* * *

Hi all!

So I'm finally _starting_ to get to the real story. There are reasons I wanted to establish Mugen and Fuu's affections first, which I won't tell you. It'll become more obvious as the story progresses (and to tell you now will ruin the story).

I know Mugen seems pretty oc in this chapter (fuu too). I was re-watching the show and (sadly) realizing that probably no one but his creators could do a follow up properly. His character is complex, even if it seems simple sometimes. You can tell what he feels (well not always), but not usually why. I'll probably do a more dark, drawn out and dramatic fic if I do another samcham fic in the future, to be more accurate with him. Or maybe a one-shot. We'll see.

Mugen's opened this sort of pandora's box and can't go back to keeping away from her, or at least acting like he has (in the past) about her. You know when you've been repressing something so long and something just snaps and you do that thing in abundance? That's how it is for mugen. It was because She kissed him. Fuu's a bit oc partly because she's been a virgin till now, and losing it has changed her a bit.

I've been really trying to get into mugens mind by studying various episodes during my free time. I thought I knew all there was to know about him, but if you look closer, more stuff gets unclear. Like in the episode where sara nearly kills him and fuu rushes to save him: after, when he's recovering, he gets this freaky look on his face (which i'd either not noticed before or not paid as much attention to) and says "This time I might really buy it." (i.e: die.) But he doesn't fear death from what I understand. He seemed almost psychotically happy, sad and possibly afraid. But why? I get the happy, I even kind of get the sadness, but I don't get the fear if he doesn't fear death. Is he afraid he won't beat her, or that he possibly won't see jin and fuu again, or is it just a bit of trauma of having to fight that intensely? Maybe i'm over-thinking it, but i am trying to be accurate as a fanfic writer. (Also I like psychology. so sorry for the psychoanalysis for those who don't .) If you have any thoughts, let me know. :)

Let me know what you thought of this chapter. A big thank you to those who rate and review. I 3 you.


	7. Chapter 7: Sunflowers and trouble

Chapter 7: Sunflowers and trouble

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Warning: Lemons and subject matter that may disgust some people.

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Mugen opened his eyes slowly. Sunlight steamed through the window on him. Feeling a weight on his stomach and a warmth at his side, he shifted slowly and looked to its source. Fuu had draped her arm across him and her legs were intertwined with his, her body pressed against him. Grinning, he remembered the night before. Turning slowly to face her, he was careful not to wake her by jostling her too much.

Her hair was flipped up and covered much of her face except for parts of her pert little nose and her mouth. She looked very sexy like that. He gently pushed back her hair, resisting the urge to kiss that small mouth that puffed out a little as she slept. Studying her peaceful face, he felt a peace he never knew existed. It was an alien and strange feeling he couldn't understand. A feeling of foreboding followed in its wake.

He knew he made a mistake to let this happen. To let it keep happening. Sighing, he rested his free arm that she wasn't pressed against over his eyes. He could take nothing good in his life for granted. He knew he couldn't take it back, and that he didn't really want to, but part of him wished he could. She'd be safer without him. She'd be better off without him.

"Dumb broad." He murmured, before turning to her again. He caressed her cheek gently, so as not to wake her. It was strange to wake up with the same broad he climbed into bed with. It was…nice. He didn't know how to feel about that. He draped an arm over her and held her.

Fuu's eyes beneath the lids began to move. She opened them slightly. Blinking several slowly times, she mumbled sleepily. "Mugen?" "I'm here, girly." She turned to see his face and smiled sleepily. As she woke up more, she realized he had his arms around her. She found this odd, but then the whole thing was odd. But she was happy to wake up and find him next to her. She snuggled closer.

Then her eyes bulged as she felt something hard press into her side and she pulled out of his embrace. "Mugen!" She cried, pulling the sheets off of them. Mugen shook his head, amused. "It's called morning wood, girly. Happens every morning, whether a guy wants it or not." He smirked at her. "So you're not…" "Well, even if this didn't happen every morning I'm sure I would be like this anyway, especially with the way you were clinging to me. You're going to have to get used to it, you know." She nodded slowly, staring. "You know, you can help me get rid of it if you want." She slapped his shoulder lightly. "Mugen!" "No? Okay, I guess I'll get rid of it myself." He wrapped his fingers around his manhood. "Eugh. Fine. I'll do it. Move your hand." She scooted next to him. "Don't do me any favors, Fuu. I can do it myself or just leave it. It'll die down eventually." He said in mock seriousness, with a grin in his eyes. She glared at him. "No, no. I want to." "Man, you're dirty." She ignored this. "Like this?" She wrapped her fingers around his swollen shaft. It grew a little larger at her touch. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before he could respond. "Yeah. Now stroke it like that." As she complied, feeling utterly dirty but enjoying the feel of him in her hand, he felt a fire start to grow in his loins. "Good. Like that." He breathed. She rubbed the tip with her thumb, and it bulged more as white liquid spilled out. It was sticky to the touch. At this, he sucked in a breath and began to pump into her hand. "Unh. Yeah. Faster." The slickness made it easy to comply. Blushing, she felt herself get aroused. Torn between the desire to pleasure herself at the same time or to focus on trying to make him come hard, she finally opted for the latter. With her free hand, she traced a line over the inside of his leg close to his genitals, before moving it to trace slow circles on his balls. He constricted suddenly before coming hard, an arc of semen hitting the floor as Fuu watched it. "Holy fuck, Fuu." Mugen lay there breathing hard. She smiled at this, but he soon realized she was also squirming a little and was dripping. He sat up and pulled her towards him by her legs. "Let me return the favor." He spread her legs and lowering his mouth to her vagina. When he tongued her clit, she arched her back and moaned. His hot breath in that canyon made the sensations more intense as he licked her clit a couple of times, swept his tongue down to rim the opening of her vagina, and thrust his tongue in as far as it could go. He thrust it a couple of times as Fuu shivered, before sweeping up to her clit again. When he sucked on it, she arched her back and pulled his head closer by his hair. As he sucked and licked, her legs started to quiver. "Uhh." Her body got so hot she thought she might burn, and she felt herself starting to quake as she rushed to the edge. When he started to suck harder, it was too much, and she came, biting down on her lower lip to keep from screaming.

Spent, she laid there as Mugen licked up the fluids still gushing from her. "Tastes good." "That's gross." She told him almost deadpanned, too tired to stop him or move. He crawled next to her and flopped down. "No it ain't. You just never tried it." He arched an eyebrow at her. "What's gross is spiting hair out of my mouth after. You need to shave, girly." "Mugen!" She rolled to her side. "You never complained about that before." "I never went down on you before." He told her flatly. She rolled her eyes. "Then you got to do it too." "What the fuck for?" "Same reason you want me to shave." He looked at her with an expression on his face that was somewhere between happy lust, amusement, and annoyance. "So…you're saying you'll go down on me if I shave? With your mouth?" She shrugged. "Yeah." He grinned, then looked annoyed. "Demanding bitch." He muttered. "You want _me_ to shave so quit you're complaining. Fairs fair." "Don'cha know, girly? Fair is never fair."

Knowing she couldn't respond to this, she got up and began to dress. She had just stepped into her loincloth and bound her breasts with the strip of cloth she kept for that purpose, when Mugen lifted up her inner kimono and held it out for her to slide into. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Shut up, girly." He mumbled. "I'll do what I like." Mentally shrugging at his odd behavior, she slid her arms into the kimono's sleeve. She tucked it closed as he held out her outer kimono. "I don't haf to explain myself to you. Is this how you do it?" He asked after she tucked the outer kimono closed, trying to figure out how to keep her obi in place. "Maybe you do have to explain yourself to me." She teased. He grunted. Smiling at him, she moved his hands. "Like this." She guided him through the proper way of securing an obi.

When they finished, she kissed him lightly. "You're so cute." "I am not!" Mugen glared at her. Chuckling, she shook her head. "Fine, you're not. Here." She handed him his shorts. When he put it on, she held out his shirt with a grin. "Pain in the ass broad! I don't know if you're making fun of me for helping you or just want an excuse to touch me." "A bit of both." She grinned mischievously. "But I wasn't making fun. Only teasing." He had to bend over to accommodate her lack of height when she tried to lower his shirt over his head. "Such a pain in the ass. I could do this ten times faster without your short ass 'helping'. And you better not 'tease' me in public, or I swear I'll kill you." Fuu knew an empty threat when she heard one. But she knew she was walking a line to tease him as much as she already had. She smoothed his shirt over his chiseled torso. "Fine. And if you could do it faster, why are you letting me help?" She said, sliding his red haori on his broad shoulders. He had nothing to say to this.

He noticed a mark on her lower lip. "Your lip is red. Did you bite it?" Mugen tilted her chin back and forth. Fuu pulled away. "I'm fine. It's not bleeding, is it?" He shrugged. "No."

He was about to leave the room when she asked "Maybe I don't wanna know, but why don't you wear a fundoshi?" His hand left the sliding door as he turned to her. "It's more free." He grinned his devil-may-care grin. "Geez!" She opened the door and walked out ahead of him.

Fuu was surprised to learn that they were up early enough that the house was still quiet. Well, more quiet than normal at least. She quickly set about to cook breakfast as the sun slowly rose. Mugen surprised her again, this time by fetching the bowls and utensils from the pantry and setting them out on the table. It surprised her not just because he was helping her, which he never did, but also because he knew where they were kept. He must have watched where she put them before, which she didn't expect.

Then he went out into the yard and practiced with his sword, and fighting without it.

Jin emerged from his room. "He seems happy." Fuu blushed, but smiled, looking intently at the cooking pot. She stopped him as he was heading outside. "Don't kill him." "Hnn." Jin went out and soon she heard the ringing of their swords clashing as she cooked. She always worried when they did that. She didn't want either to kill the other.

She jumped as she heard something hit the house wall. Dropping the ladle, she rushed out of the house to see Mugen jumping from the storage shed that was attached to the house onto the roof. "Really? Jeez!" As Mugen flipped of the roof, Jin was there to meet his steel with as it came down. "This isn't a workout! This is stupid!" Mugen grinned, but never took his eyes of his opponent, as he bore down on Jin's blade with his own. "Go back in the house. The yard is small." "Mugen's right. You could get hurt." Jin pushed back, before Mugen tried to swipe Jin's legs from under him. Jin jumped back. "We'll be in soon." Jin took his eyes off Mugen for a fraction of a second. "Don't get cocky, four eyes!" Jin blocked Mugen's swing seemingly at the last second, but he was quietly smiling. "Bastard!" Then they were a blur of silver, blue and red. "Jeez." Fuu walked back inside. "Guys." She muttered to herself.

They came in as she was dishing out the last bowl of food, sweating, but in good spirits. She went to go feed Mrs. Anno some rice porridge before joining them. "How is she?" Jin looked concerned at the downcast expression on Fuu's face when she returned. "It …won't be long." Mugen put a hand on her leg, letting it rest there a moment before sweeping upwards. "Stop that." She pushed his hand away. He looked annoyed, got up and then left the house without a word.

Walking aimlessly, he eventually stopped and scratched his head. He spotted a little boy playing with some stones in the road. "Hey, kid!" The kid turned and looked at him with wide eyes. "What do girls like?" "I dunno." The kids lip was quivering. What a pansy. "I mean, what does…yer dad do when yer mum is sad?" "He screams at her." The kid looked like he was about to cry. "Geez kid." Mugen shook his head and walked away. Then he turned back and shouted. "Thanks for nothing! Grow some balls, wouldja? There are worse things."

"Fuu!" Mugen yelled from outside the house. She came to the door. "What? Where did you go?" "Never mind that. Come out and close the damn door." Looking quizzically at him, she did as he asked. He pulled her by the arm out into the lane, where they couldn't be seen by anyone in the house or yard. "What..?" She noticed that he was hiding something behind his back. "What's that?" She tried to look around him but he kept turning. She shrugged. Mugen scratched his head as she waited. Finally, he handed her some sunflowers that looked like they had just been ripped from their bed. He scowled and looked away, kicking a rock. She blinked in surprise and then gawked at him. Then she voiced the first sensible thing that came to her mind. "Did you take these from someone's garden?" "Whatever. Don't be sad." With that he was walking back into the house. She just stood there in surprise, trying desperately to process why he would go out of his way to bring her flowers when he was not the type to do that, never mind not being the sort who'd notice anyone was sad. But… he had with her. Before too. She smiled.

Mugen was confusing the bejesus out of her with his new-found concern for her. She expected him to be horny; that's how he'd always been, but this was far out from what he'd been like when they'd first traveled together. She hadn't thought to hope he could ever treat her decent back then, never mind love her. She had felt stupid for wanting it back in those days. The thought of telling him she liked him was almost laughable back then. And now he was trying to cheer her up with flowers he knew she liked? It almost defied logic.

She noticed something on the ground and stooped to pick it up. She opened the book and immediately wrinkled her nose. "Eugh! He still has these shunga books?" Then she looked again. Hadn't they done that one? She flipped through the book. And that. And that. She blushed. Looking at the other pictures, she couldn't help but want to try them. She was getting turned so turned on that she finally shut the book in disgust. "Great. I'm turning into Mugen." She muttered, opening up a folded piece of paper.

"What?...Why does he carry the picture of me turned backwards?" She grew warm, of a different sort than before. She walked back into the house, to find Jin lounging by the table and Mugen finishing his breakfast. He didn't look at her. "Are those sunflowers?" Jin asked, and eyebrow arched. Mugen blushed. Jin shut up and Fuu shook her head as she put the flowers in water and set them on the table. "You dropped something outside." He looked up and saw the books and paper in her hand. "Did you see?" "Yeah." She told him nonchalantly, before walking away with the swag. He rubbed his cheeks, embarrassed beyond words and certain anyone could see what he was thinking. He didn't like the feeling. "Give it back Fuu." He stood and followed her.

He found her tucking them into a chest in the corner of her room. "Give 'em back." She closed the chest and stood. "Here." She handed him backwards beauty. "The other stuff too." He put it in his pocket. "Nope. That's for me to study." She whispered this last conspiratorially. He was getting turned on again. "Hot damn. I guess I can live with that then." He reached out for her. "Why did you keep it all this time?" Her question made him freeze. Speechless, he didn't answer.

She walked up to him. "Why?" "I…I dunno." He mumbled, wondering how her eyes could pierce through him like that. He knew she was demanding an answer, but it wasn't easy to give, despite everything. She gave him a look. "Alright! Geez. Don't be a bitch." He turned away. "I've had it since that time you posed for it. I dunno, I couldn't throw it away." "How come?" He grew uncomfortable. Damn her and her twenty questions!

Then he thought about it. Why had he? It was the question that had plagued him the whole time, especially during the two years they had been parted. An image came clearer suddenly. He loved her now, and the feeling was similar, except less nice. Was he in love with her back then too? He groaned and rubbed a hand through his hair. Really? She put her arms around him, and he blurted "I guess I loved you back then too. I missed you." What the fuck? "You did that on purpose." He accused. "Yeah, of course. But probably not in the way you mean." She grinned into his shirt. "Stop that. You turn me upside down. So don't." She smiled and resisted the urge to tease him. Letting him go, she told him. "I don't mean to." She sat on the chest and he did the same. He held her about the shoulders. "Well you do, and I don't like it." She nodded, understanding that it was scary to have someone have so much power over you. She felt the same about him, but she was used to being vulnerable. He probably was not.

He turned to her, remembering something. "I hope you don't think I'm going to marry you now that we fucked, or something." He watched for her reaction and was surprised when she started giggling. "What's so funny?" She kept laughing, unable to answer him. He got annoyed. "Seriously, what's so funny about that? Jin mentioned something about that. Something about your reputation or honor or some shit." Once she could speak again, she asked "Jin mentioned it? I guess he would. He's so old fashioned." She laughed again. The more she laughed, the more annoyed he got. Did she find the idea of marrying him so ridiculous? What was wrong with him? He was just as good as any guy out there. Okay, maybe he wasn't, but that was no reason to laugh! "Stop laughing and tell me what's so god damn funny!" He growled dangerously. She grinned and calmed herself down enough to inform him "I never expected you to marry me just for sleeping with me. That's so old fashioned. Besides, I'm too young to get married." "You're what; eighteen? That's plenty old. Lots of chicks marry by now." "How do you know?" He grimaced. "It's a well-known fact. I'm not as stupid as you make me sound." She put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry." He looked at her in surprise, since she barely ever apologized. She rolled her eyes at this and he grinned.

"Come on, I've got to get to work. Walk with me?" "Since when do you care about getting to work on time?" "I did promise to pay my share of food. I'd have stolen it, but you probably wouldn't take it." He didn't mention that he didn't want to bring the law on her head. If she wasn't here, he wouldn't have cared, but he promised himself not to mess with her life more than necessary. Prison wasn't a place he'd ever want to see her in. She wasn't _that_ tough. "Hnn." "You sound like four eyes." She mimicked Jin voice and way of talking. "Feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." Mugen cracked up at this. Jin slid open the door, looking annoyed. "I do not sound like that. I'm off to work." He walked away as they looked at him in surprise at him having heard them. "Oops." Fuu covered her mouth and tried to hide her laughter. "I do not sound like that." Mugen mimicked. "Stop, stop. I can't breathe." She laughed, gasping.

Fuu checked on Mrs. Anno and then walked out with him. "She's sleeping." They walked in comfortable silence for a while. Fuu grabbed his hand. He didn't pull away.

Mugen thought about what she had said. She _wasn't_ too young to marry. If she didn't want to marry now, she'd probably want to get married someday. It both annoyed and relieved him to hear her say she didn't expect him to marry her after sleeping with her. Why the fuck not? Didn't she want shit like that? He thought she was like that 'till that moment. As for him, he'd never thought of marriage before. It didn't seem a good fit with him. And he never really had a real relationship before her, enough to even consider it. It just seemed like you were chained to this person for life, which was a pain in the ass he hadn't needed. Chicks were just whiny nuisances only good for shagging. He hadn't thought about it as something that could ever apply to him 'till that bastard Jin had brought it up. Unless …Maybe she secretly thought there was something wrong with him. Some reason she couldn't consider it. He frowned. The brat _was_ a whiny nuisance… but there was more than that to it with her. He looked at her out of the side of his eyes without looking directly at her, thinking.

They passed the residential districts and came into areas with lots of shops. Fuu broke the silence. "Where do you work?" "Down by the wharves. Guarding a ship there." "Do you like boats a lot?" "I guess. I grew up around 'em."

When he reached his destination, his kissed her. "Don't get kidnapped going back." He teased. "I can't make any promises." She rolled her eyes at him, and then kissed him back. As they broke apart, he slapped her ass. "Not in public! Jeez!" She hissed at him. Grinning he turned and walked away. "That bastard." She muttered. Then she smiled and turned to go back.

Fuu was returning to the house later in the afternoon from buying some more groceries, when she smelled smoke in the lane outside the house. She stopped cold as she heard a blood curdling scream. "Mrs. Anno?!" She rushed into the house.

Mugen heard the scream and saw Fuu race into the house from his end of the lane. He rushed forward and stopped when he saw a dark figure moving on the roof. 'What the hell?" He rushed after her into the yard.

* * *

Dun dun dun...

Terms:

Fundoshi: Male underwear used until world war 2.

Shunga: Japanese erotic art, usually ukiyo-e. Not porn, although they were commonly used for sex education, especially among wealthy and nobility of the time.

*Note: I state that fuu wears a loincloth, but no one really knows what women back then wore below, if anything! (Although I can't imagine they wouldn't wear anything at least on their monthlies. At this point I have to apologize to those who think my unflinching mentioning of pubic hair and now monthlies is gross. Sorry. I went for realism. ^_^ )

Soul Raider 116: You could be right. I think his feelings are all jumbled, so its hard for anyone to sort them out. I didn't think that falling in love was a adequate reason or comparison at first (why he reacted that way), mostly because I was thinking of his hard 'upbringing', and the fact that the show is always so ambiguous about how he feels unless its painfully obvious. So my first reaction was that he was either afraid of not being able to beat sara, or of dying because part of him understood he'd never see fuu again. (jin was thought to be dead at this point, so missing jin is actually a moot point here.) But i can see him fearing falling in love and having that comparison as being as 'scary' as falling under sara's blade.

bottlecap72: Thanks! I did stress it, even though I think in this story I'm right in deciding he'd act/react this way. I think that's mostly because so many readers have varying opinions on how mugen would react to things and I know I can't please everyone (or anyone. lol). Especially since I'm telling it from my view of him and them! What you said reminded me of that fact. Thanks so much for that and the encouragement.

Please rate and review. It feeds my soul. XD


	8. Chapter 8: The bubble bursts

Chapter 8: The bubble bursts

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Note: I do not own the song 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan. (And Warning: Have it ready to play.)

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Jin was on his way home when he saw smoke rising from the residential area in front of him. He rushed to investigate and was surprised to see the house they stayed in on fire. Figures in black fought a blur of red and silver as it fought to get to the door. "Mugen?" He heard a scream from the house and his eyes bulged. Having already unconsciously unsheathed his sword the moment he saw the ninja, he rushed into the fray, helping Mugen cut a path to the door. Mugen recognized Jin and they fought together. "Is Mrs. Anno still inside?" He asked. "Fuu is too." Mugen responded, more than just battle fury gleaming in his eyes. Nodding, Jin cut through his enemies like paper. One corpse flew into the door and broke it as it landed. They rushed inside and faced a deadly heat, and smoke clouding the air. Coughing, they fought the men in black that were there. The fire was spreading quickly in the wooden house. "Shit." Mugen swore. Hearing a weakened scream of pain that went on and on, he looked into Mrs Anno's room. The screaming was Mrs. Anno who was on fire in her bed. A ninja was trying to grab Fuu, who was fighting him to try to get to Mrs. Anno. Mugen struck the man down as the screaming suddenly stopped. "No!" Fuu rushed forward, but Mugen caught her and tried to drag her backwards. "Let me go! Let me go! Mrs. Anno!" "It's me, girly. It's too late. Come on, or we'll be boxed in this death trap too." "No! No!" She cried, struggling against him. But he was stronger than she was, and he hoisted her over his shoulder and ignored her fists feebly beating at him as he exited the building, slicing at anyone in his path. Jin saw them emerge from the room and followed. "Mrs. Anno?" Mugen shook his head. Jin's mouth turned grim.

Outside, Mugen fought as well as he could with Fuu as baggage. His jumps and turns, though not as fast as when he wasn't carrying her, were enough to subdue her with dizziness. "Take her. I can finish them off quicker." He set Fuu down and thrust her towards Jin, knowing his own style of fighting had a better chance of accidentally hurting her than Jin's. Jin nodded. They both knew that, whoever these people were and whoever sent them, they had to all be killed so none might report back to their master.

Fuu leaned against the fence and waited for the world to stop turning, tears in her eyes, and a fiery rage burning in her chest. That man had set the old woman on fire. She still saw the image of Mrs. Anno burning to death, her skin blackening as she screamed, the smell of burning meat. She gaged and threw up, oblivious to the fighting going on around her and the inferno razing the only home she had known in years. Rubbing her mouth, she rested against the fence with her head bowed, still dizzy and feeling nauseous. When the world righted itself at last, she took in the burning house and the few men in black that remained, and felt herself grow cold. She unsheathed the tanto on her belt, and took two steps towards the nearest man, as if in a trance. Then she ran at him, screaming; her blade held high, her aim to kill. Pulling his blade out of a man, Mugen saw her reaction and ran to her, coming from behind to pin her against him, as her ripped the blade from her hand. "No!" He yelled as she fought him. "Don't kill. You can't. I won't let you!" "Let me go! He killed her! I'll kill him!" By now Jin had finished with his opponents and dispatched the man before he could land the blow he'd been aiming at Mugen and Fuu. Then he stopped, chopped once to whip the blood off, and resheathed his blade. The yard was awash with bodies, the fire from the house spreading to the yard, to consume one of the bodies of the dead. "Let's get out of here." He told them.

Fuu had stopped struggling and stood there, watching the house burn with tears coursing down her cheeks. Mugen loosened his hold on her but didn't let go. Then the fire started eating the bodies in the yard, and Fuu broke away to throw up again at the intense smell of burning flesh. Kneeling on the ground she trembled. "Come on." Mugen resheathed his sword which he had dropped when he had grabbed her, and helped her stand, then lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the yard. Jin picked up her tanto and followed them as they walked to the city's southern edge, keeping an eye out for more assassins as they went.

On a hill outside the city, they watched the district burning, people yelling, and bells ringing. Fuu tears slipped down her face freely before they turned to walk south down the hill, out of sight of the city.

They walked until they could not walk anymore, always keeping of the main roads and out of big towns or cities. They camped out that night, too tired to do anything but lie down and sit or sleep in the grass. "Why did you stop me?" Fuu asked, her eyes almost unseeing, looking like one half dead. Mugen sat next to her. "I can't let you kill anyone." "He's right, Fuu. It becomes a heavy weight to carry. We were put into the circumstance of having to take lives. It would change you unrecognizably if you start down that path. You wouldn't be you anymore. We don't want that for you." "He deserved to die!" She screamed at them. "He did die." Mugen said quietly. "I should have been the one to kill him!" "Killing one of them won't bring her back." Jin told her solemnly. At this, she stood up and walked off into the forest angrily. Mugen stood up to follow her, but Jin stopped him. "She needs some time alone." "Eugh." Mugen sighed, running his hand through his hair. "She better not get lost." He muttered.

"The Dragon clan…" Mugen looked up. "What are you muttering about four eyes?" "Did you see their crest? It is that of the dragon clan." "I was too busy killing them. What's that?" "An assassin clan of ninjas. They work exclusively for the shogunate." Mugen looked at him sharply. "What?! Why is the shogun sending his lackeys again? Didn't we kill Sara and Kariya? Ain't that shit over? They let us be 'till now." "Don't you see? We killed them. To them, we are stronger than some of their best fighters. I don't know why they've decided to wait until now. Perhaps there was no one willing or available to finish the job until now." Jin told him quietly. "I'm wanted for the murder of my master, who was connected to Kariya who worked for the shogunate. And I'm guessing they figured out who killed a family member of the shogun." He looked pointedly at Mugen. Mugen frowned and shrugged at this. Then he had a bad thought. "And Fuu?" He growled. Jin sighed. "Fuu is still her father's daughter. Kariya had said he was there to kill Katsumi Seizo as well as his family and retainers. It's a loose end they seem want to cut off now."

For once Mugen was pissed off at Kasumi Seizo for putting Fuu in this position. "Fucking sunflower bastard!" He scowled. Jin arched an eyebrow at this outburst. "That's why that mother fucker was grabbing for her in the house." His eyes blazed. "Fuck this shit, I'm going after her. It ain't safe, and she always walks straight into trouble. Dumb-assed broad!" He walked two steps in the direction Fuu had gone, when Jin stopped him. "Wait." Mugen turned around and gave Jin a look. "I have to leave you here." Jin informed him. "What? Why?" Jin's eyes were veiled in the dark. "I have to get to Fukui. You and Fuu will have to meet me there." Mugen stared at him a moment. "What's in Fukui? Shino? I thought that broad…" "No. She's not there. Although, now that you mention it, I'm concerned they might connect us and she will be used to get to me. I'd better hurry." "Spare me yer bleeding heart, fish face. What's in Fukui then, that's so damned important?" Jin adjusted his glasses. "A swordmaster of the Shinto-ryu sword school by the name of Kashima Shin. I can guess that the shogun will be sending far worse than the ninja we defeated on our tail. If they are anything like what they sent before, what I know might not be enough." "Damn it!" Mugen hissed. He wanted to learn whatever this shin guy could teach, but he had to go after the broad first. "Watch yer ass then." "Likewise. Take the coastal road south to reach Fukui, but keep off the roads." Mugen nodded and walked into the forest, leaving the stoic ronin to turn the opposite direction and disappear in the dark. There was no time to delay.

Fuu sat on a log on a bluff overlooking a forested valley, all anger burned to embers. She stared at the luminous moon that clung tenaciously in the sable sky, her tears drying, leaving dirty streaks on her cheeks from the soot of the fire that had settled there. She was all cried out.

From somewhere inside, a sound rose; a feeling, until it spilled from her lips into the sky out over the trees. She began to sing, not knowing she was, or what song it was.

_Spend all your time waiting _

_For that second chance._

_For a break that would make it okay._

Mugen wandered the forest for what seemed like hours, resisting the urge to call her name. Just as he was about to do it anyway, he heard a sound rising mournfully through the trees. He quietly crept forward until he came out on a bluff over a valley, with an unmistakable figure sitting there on a fallen tree.

He was about to move to her, but he realized the sound he had heard was singing. Shewas singing.

_There's always some reason _

_To not feel good enough_

_And it's hard at the end of the day._

_I need some distraction_

_Oh, beautiful release._

_Memories seep from my veins._

_They may be empty_

_And weightless and maybe_

_I'll find some peace tonight._

He wanted to grab her and get moving. But the haunting melody held him captive. He nearly sagged against the tree with the weight of its bittersweet tone and the flood of things which had been deeply buried from his past –thoughts and fears and memories- that burned him, which he could normally ignore.

_In the arms of the angel,_

_Fly away from here._

_From this dark, cold hotel room_

_And the endlessness that you fear._

Mugen hung his head, lost in it. His fists clenched.

_You are pulled from the wreckage _

_Of your silent reverie._

_You're in the arms of the angel._

_May you find _

_Some comfort here._

The broken body of a man who'd been tortured and mutilated, swinging lifeless from a noose.

A beautiful woman with dark eyes, slumped over a fatal gut wound and dying, in a burning house.

_So tired of the straight line_

_And everywhere you turn_

_There's vultures and thieves at your back._

She had grabbed his hand and closed his palm over something she put there, the fierce fire in her eyes already fading.

_The storm keeps on twisting_

_Keep on building the lies_

_That you make up for all that you lack._

He'd opened his hand to find the round blue earrings she always wore there. Looking up, she was already gone.

_It don't make no difference_

_Escaping one last time_

_It's easier to believe_

_In this sweet madness,_

_This glorious sadness_

_That brings me to my knees._

Stuffing them in his pocket, he turned to see that man with a sword in the doorframe. He'd come to use her corpse. Mugen picked up the dagger from where it lay next to his dead mother, his eyes blazing. He killed that man, the very first life he had ever taken, remorseless.

_In the arms of the angel_

_Fly away from here_

_From this dark, cold hotel room_

_And the endlessness that you fear._

He felt the blood on his hands, the smell of it. He was used to the sight of blood and its smell. But he had never killed before. Fought; yes. Been tortured and beaten; yes. But never had the five year old killed before. He could swear he saw crow men watching him from the tree line outside like solemn judges, waiting.

_You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie._

_You're in the arms of the angel._

_May you find_

_Some comfort here._

Mugen shook his head to toss of those old memories he'd forgotten until now that he had.

Then he realized it was Fuu singing this song. Fuu who felt this way. He got angry.

_You're in the arms of the angel._

_May you find_

_Some comfort here._

He walked over to her and sat down next to her on the log as she finished the song. She jumped, but then relaxed when she recognized him. "Are you still mad at me?" He asked angrily. She looked over at him and answered him quietly. "No." He nodded and held her by the shoulder. His warm touch was enough to send her right over the edge again. She bawled into his shirt, clutching at it like she was drowning and it alone could save her. "Why did she have to die? Why couldn't they leave her alone? She did nothing to them. I couldn't do anything. I could only watch her burn. I _still_ see her, Mugen. Screaming and dying right there in front of me! I can still smell her burning!" She clutched at his shirt and sobbed uncontrollably. He clenched his teeth hard and held her, pissed beyond words, and at a loss as to what to do for her besides hold her, which made him even more pissed. He'd fucking find out who sent those bastards, and kill him.

His angry thoughts were interrupted by her soft voice. "Make me forget. Please." She looked at him with glistening eyes. "Make me forget." She kissed him softly, running her palms over his covered torso. Stroking her cheek softly, he nodded and kissed her as if he had all the time in the world.

They made love under the blanket of stars, forgetting everything and anyone else. Every moment was light and soft sweetness and thunder.

When it was over, Mugen held her and looked up, wondering why the stars were so beautiful, when they were just the same stars he'd seen a thousand times. How could anyone ever be this happy? Didn't it terrify people?

"I don't deserve to be this happy." Fuu rested her head on his chest, thinking of Mrs. Anno burning to death mere hours ago. He looked at her sharply. "Shut up. Of course _you_ deserve to be happy. _I'm _the one who doesn't." He exhaled. Then he mentally facepalmed. What the fuck was with her where she could make him blurt shit out like that without asking him a question? She propped herself up on her elbows. "What do you mean?" "Nothing girly. Go to sleep." She studied his face in light of the moonlight. "You _do_ deserve happiness Mugen." He said nothing. But he couldn't help but feel that if she said it; if she believed it, it must be true. He didn't know why. Something light and alien bubbled and floated upwards in his chest.

Catching him off guard, she kissed his cheek. Nuzzling his neck with her nose, she whispered. "I won't leave you …ever …until you ask me to. I promise." How did she kn…?Wha…? But sh… He...never…

She felt him tense and looked to see him staring intensely at the stars. Or through them; something simmering intensely in his eyes that she couldn't quite understand. But she had a good guess. She kissed him softly, sweetly. Then he turned over her and was kissing her back, almost wildly, completely unaware that a single tear had escaped from his eye.

* * *

So the drama element has been revealed at last!

I used 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan because (at least for me) its so potent. Obviously it is grossly historically inaccurate and impossible for Fuu to know (so it suits the story in that sense. hehe), but I think that even Mugen couldn't remain oblivious to its ability to make you want to cry or feel sad at least, especially with it being Fuu (who he actually cares about) singing it so mournfully in the memory of Mrs. Anno's death. This memory he has during the song is buried deep in him, but I know from experience that some songs can make you remember even the most buried of memories you forgot you had (which is what this was a nod to). I think a lot of guys without his sort of history ('normal' guys) would just shrug and think it was 'girly' music though. lol.

-Soul Raider 116: Its so true about him being hard to read and how his world is turned upside down with people who care about him in the mix 'suddenly'. I love dissecting his character because its also like a puzzle to solve. For example; Fuu's almost too easy to read. Everything is out there in the open with her, so its hard not guessing what she's feeling (especially) and thinking. Not so with him. Also: I love him a lot. Not because he's sexy or a badass (which are another pair of reasons to love him), but I can also relate to him on a lot of levels. Once someone breaks your trust so utterly, you have difficulty trusting anyone again. Violence to your person makes you fear violence again, even if you manage to pretend it doesn't. (I feel like Mugen's quest to beat all the tougher swordsmen out there stems from a deeply buried need to be the best to have no one left to challenge him. At least in his mind it could feel like that.) You like rougher things after major trauma than you'd have imagined you could when you were still 'innocent'. Well anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Is it funny that I really like my stories and get super excited about them?

Please rate and review!


	9. Chapter 9: Dreams, fights and the sea

Chapter 9

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Warning: Lemons

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Fire burned in the hut. The dark haired woman put something into his palm. Opening it, he saw the earring she always wore. Looking up, the dark haired woman was now Fuu, bleeding to death. Before he could reach out for her, a crow man materialized next to her, blocking Mugen's path. She died. The crow man pointed at the huts entrance. Eyes burning, Mugen looked out and saw a noose hanging from a wooden post. The tortured, broken man in it turned to Jin. His legs were kicked out from him and he swung, lifeless. Mugen stumbled from the hut in a daze as a man approached the corpse of Fuu, lying next to the wood post. He raised his sword to cut the man down, but found he held sunflowers instead. He dropped them and leapt at the man, overpowering the man easily, as crow men gathered, looking on. Mugen broke his neck in a fury. The dead man was Jin.

Mugen woke with a start, sweat on his brow. Fuu woke up at this and looked over at him. "What is it?" She asked sleepily. It took him a minute to process it had been a dream. Passing his hand over his face, he saw her looking at him in concern. "Nothing. Go back to sleep girly." He told her wearily. She propped herself up on her elbows. When she stoked his cheek he flinched. "Nightmare?" "Of course not. Don't worry about it." She shook her head. Clearly it had been. He seemed upset, despite his calm words. She sat up and as he started to follow suit, she pulled him to her from behind so that he ended up propped up against her chest, leaning against her from between her knees. She held him tightly, but not tight enough so he couldn't breathe and began to gently rock them from side to side, stroking his hair. "What are you doing, girly? Makes me feel real stupid right now." She smiled. "It's alright." She said in a soothing voice. "No one else is here but you and me."

This was just about the weirdest thing he'd ever endured. _She_ was freaking weird. The shit he put up with this broad!

Still… it was oddly soothing being held and rocked. He felt himself relaxing. When she began to hum a low tune, he grinned, even as he felt himself slide back into sleep, feeling peaceful and oddly safe for the first time in his life. Soon he was snoring. Fuu grinned.

When he opened his eyes again after the best sleep of his life, he found her looking at him. " 'Morning." She smiled and started dressing. "What are you doing that for?" She rolled her eyes. "We have to get back to Jin you know." "He left for Fukui. He said for us to come when we could. Something about some sword master teaching him new moves." "'Kay." It seemed odd, but then maybe Jin just wanted to learn new moves for no reason. Mugen sat up slowly, feeling a rock digging into his back. He rubbed the spot and reached for his shorts. She knelt by him, having finished putting her kimono back on, and rubbed the spot. "What you doing girly? Don't coddle me. I ain't a baby. " "You said I'm your woman. And one of the things girlfriends do is take care of their guy. You'll have to get used to it." "Never." He muttered rebelliously. He was afraid she'd turn him soft. That was the quickest way to die. How could he protect her then?

Suddenly Fuu turned a pale green and covered her mouth, turning to the side just in time to avoid vomiting on him. "Are you okay?" he couldn't help but ask the stupid question. "Eugh." She grabbed a leaf and wiped he mouth with it. "I'm fine. My body is probably still reeling from smelling burning people." That seemed to make sense. He couldn't remember if that had been true for him or when he'd first smelt it. It had been so long ago. "Don't expect me to kiss you now." He teased. "Well, I'd kill for some water to rinse out my mouth. Some breakfast too actually. I could eat a horse." "I know." He grinned. "Let's go find somewhere to fish where you can rinse out your mouth." He took her hand and led her into the valley.

After a breakfast of river fish, they tried to find the coastal road. As the day wore on, Fuu noticed Mugen was on guard more than normal; watching the treeline and their surrounding like he expected to be jumped at any time. When they reached a village, Mugen had them avoid it completely. At this point Fuu couldn't rationalise it away as being him concerned for bandits or wild animals. She finally stopped him. "Why are you so wary? Who's going to jump us in this place? And can't you fend them off if there were any anyway?" He didn't want to worry her about Jin's revelation, but he realised he couldn't…and shouldn't…. coddle her either. "We were attacked by assassins of the shogun. Back there." He gestured. "Jin recognised their crest." Her face paled. "But…why? I thought that had ended two years ago. Why now?" "That's the billion ryu question, isn't it? Jin said some shit about how maybe no one was willing or free to finish the job 'till now." Grimly, she nodded. "Kariya said his orders were to kill my father and his family and servants. You…well, you're you." Mugen scoffed at this, but knew it was true. "Was killing his master who was trying to kill him really such a big crime as to send government hitmen after Jin?" "Well, I've no idea, but I don't think it matters. Things just tend to get nasty when self-righteous rich pansies get their underwear in a bunch. But Kariya wasn't after anyone but you. We just stood in his way that time. Jin said for killing Sara and Kariya we got noticed. Sure, maybe the government didn't like me, I bet, but they never sent hitmen before. But Jin said maybe me killing the shogun's family member was coming to bite me in the ass now." He shrugged. "I don't see why'd they'd be after Jin if they weren't before. Anyway, we best keep moving. We're less likely to get caught that way."

They walked southwest until they hit the sea. Fuu's eyes lit up at the sight of the sunset colors on the shimmering water. She ran out onto the beach and paused for only a second to take off her sandals before running into the shallow water. Mugen grinned at her enthusiasm. He found it funny that she could be so excited, given their dire circumstances. His gaze swept up and down the beach and out to sea past her, despite knowing local fishermen wouldn't be likely to linger on the sea past sunset.

She ran back to where he stood. "Come on, the water is great!" He let her drag him out as he hopped out of his geta and carried them slung over a shoulder. Having grown up on a penal colony, he had a complicated relationship with the ocean. It could feed you, but it could kill you. It could also free you.

She splashed him, snapping Mugen out of his intense gaze on the open sea. He saw her grinning infectiously at him. Shaking his head mentally, he slapped the water so it sloshed over her, drenching her completely. "Mugen!" She spluttered. She saw the self-satisfied look on his face. "I see how it is!" She proceeded to try to return the favour, but he mercilessly splashed her until she gave up, laughing and trying not to choke on sea water. He couldn't help grinning. "You look like a drowned cat." He remarked casually. He dodged more water flying his way, easily. Walking up to her, he picked her up and walked deeper into the water until it was up to his chest. "What…?" Was all she managed to get out before he dropped them both into the water. She hadn't taken enough oxygen before submerging, but felt him lock lips with her and feed her oxygen from his mouth before she could choke. She opened her eyes as he ended the lip-lock. He sat there under the water and looked at her hair swaying in the water in the darkening water. He looked like some dark creature of the sea, with it rippling across his face. He reached out to touch her face slowly. Then he was lifting her to the surface. She gasped for air as he did.

When he first dunked her, she was going to berate him for nearly drowning her, but she realised he hadn't been roughly playing or being mean in doing it. He seemed to be acting instinctually, like he wanted to see her in the water, as if he liked it there and wanted to see if she belonged in that place too. Then the thought passed. She must have been mistaken. He probably hadn't even thought about it, he just did it.

"Are you okay?" He asked as she undid her hairdo, which was sagging considerably. They walked to shore. "Fine." "You ain't mad?" "Why?" He shrugged. "You weren't trying to kill me." She stated. "But you could've given me some warning." "Sorry girly." He lay down on the sand, not caring that it clung to his wet skin and clothes where he touched it. She wrung out her hair, shrugging. As she moved to redo her hairdo, he stopped her. "Leave it." She shrugged and left it hanging. Removing her outer kimono, she wrung out the material and hung it over a low branch of the tree nearest them. Then she stepped out of her inner kimono and stood in her underwear wringing it out, before putting it back on again. "You don't need to put that back on. You'll dry faster if you don't." He remarked innocently, a lecherous grin on his face. "Not if you have anything to do with it." She muttered, dropping to her knees next to him. His grin widened. "Damn straight." Before he could reach for her, she backed up a little. "Wring out your wet shirt and haori, and I may consider…warming you up. You'll catch you death if you don't." "Demanding." He muttered as he sat up and removed his upper clothing.

He caught her staring unabashedly at his bare muscled torso with a grin as he hung them to dry. "Jeez, you've gotten so perverted Fuu. I guess I corrupted you pretty good." He had this weird look in his eyes, as if he was torn between this being good or bad. "What, did you think I'd be a shy virgin forever?" She put her hands on her hips. "Well…no…I mean…I dunno. I never thought about it before." "And I'm not corrupted. …Well, maybe." She laughed. He gave her a look. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder and spoke softly. "Why are you so worried? It's not like you did anything bad to me by sleeping with me. I wanted to remember? You didn't force yourself on me." She pushed him down onto the sand. Feeling him relax, she arched an eyebrow. "That's it isn't it? You think you're corrupting me? Is that why you didn't want me to kill that guy so badly?" "Jeez." He scratched his head. This broad had x-ray vision. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Something in his look and his reaction must have betrayed his answer, because she lay next to him and held him. "You won't. How can you if you're trying to keep me from killing? How can you when I'm happy with you?" "I don't cause happiness." He said emotionlessly. She fanned her hands over his torso in opposite directions as if to warm it, and then pinched his nipples enough to make him wince and open his eyes. "You do. You make me happy. Well… maybe not always." She half teased. "Ow." He sat up, pushing her hands away. "Can't you be a little less violent when you're trying to prove a point?" "Do I even have to point out the irony of you telling anyone to be less violent?" She retorted. He fell silent for a bit. Before she could apologise; thinking she had somehow hurt his feelings or something, he finally spoke quietly. "You're not like me." She sighed. "Don't be so sensitive. I thought you were as hard as nails. …No, I've never killed anyone before. But it's not like I don't have a temper, you know. It's not like I haven't been accused of being violent before now, even by you remember? I pretty sure you're not the one turning me violent if I am." He didn't answer her, but she noticed the tension leave his shoulders.

"Geez." She put a hand to her head. Kissing him softly, she sighed into his mouth. "Don't be so stupid." He sat up suddenly. Squeaking in protest, she fell onto the sand next to him, landing on her butt. "I'm not stupid! Just because I'm no book-learned pansy doesn't mean I ain't got brains. Go back to Jin if I'm so damn stupid!" He spat out. "Bitch." He muttered, sourly. What the fuck was his problem? She stood up, hands on her hips. "Go back to Jin? I wasn't insulting you, you perverted monkey! I can, if you're so desperate I should. Is that what you want? And if I'm a bitch, you're an asshole!" She got up, grabbed her half dry outer kimono and stormed away, putting it on. He got up and grabbed his stuff before stomping angrily after her, hindered with the effort of trying to throw on his clothes and sling his sword strap over his head and across his shoulder. "Come back here!" She ignored his angry yell, walked off the beach, and almost fell into someone's vegetable patch. After dashing onto the path next to it, she froze, realising this was the outskirts of a small town.

Then she relaxed, realising it was too dark and late at night to matter if anyone could see her. She continued down the lane, when she heard him calling "Hey! Don't you walk away from me, you dumb broad! I'll kill you if you ignore me!" She just glared at him. "Fuck off ! How dare you threaten me, you retarded dog!" She turned down anther lane, and realised her folly. This was an alley that headed to a dead end. She turned to face him, her back against a wall. "A retarded dog, am I?" He snarled, walking towards her more slowly now that he had her cornered. "A retarded dog?" He pushed her against the wall of the alley forcefully, his eyes blazing, a dangerous grin on his lips. "That's what I said." She spat out. She raised her fist to hit him, her eyes equally angry. He grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head. She made to hit him with the other one. He pinned it to the wall above her, rendering her defenseless. They glared daggers of death at each other, their faces mere inches apart.

Then he was kissing her hard, angrily. She kissed him back as if she were fighting him, the tension palpable between them. Transferring her hands to one of his, he kept them pinned there above them, as he pressed himself against her body so that she was pinned to the wall completely. He grabbed her breast through her kimono. Then she sucked in some air and the tension changed. She stopped fighting him and eagerly thrust her tongue in his mouth, stroking it with hers as her body leaned into his. His eyes widened, but then his eyes blazed with wild lust instead of the rage of a second ago. He began to kiss her neck as he grabbed each of her hands with his, loosening his grip, and keeping them above her as he pressed his raging hard on against her. She gasped, feeling it producing lightning from her where it was pressed against her, and she arched into it. Groaning, he pushed up her kimono until her loincloth was showing. As he lowered it, and then his shorts, Fuu kissed and sucked on his neck in a way that made concentrating difficult. Then he was ramming into her hard like a wild animal, unable to take the pressure anymore. She wrapped her legs around him and thrust back equally hard, panting into his neck, before he grasped her lips eagerly, drinking from them deeply as he pounded into her. She quivered and tightened around him. He opened the top of her kimono and pushed up the cloth that bound her breasts. Soon it fluttered to the ground, unnoticed as he fondled a breast. "Ohh, Mugen." She moaned. With every thrust, her back rubbed up the wall and then down as he pulled out to do it again. She felt as if she were riding a wave in and out of a bay that grew larger with every time he pushed into her, until she crested, bearing down on his manhood hard as she came. Her eyes rolled back into her skull as he came into her hard at the same time, twitching. He thrust several more times and then leaned against her, panting. She ran her fingers through his hair, sighing with contentment.

"I like this way of fighting." Fuu said quietly, holding him. He grinned. "I don't think I'll mind us arguing if it ends up like this." Mugen agreed. He pulled out but didn't pull away from her embrace. He breathed her in. This made her smile fondly into his hair. Then she grinned mischievously and reached between them until she found his manhood. She trailed a finger along the part of it she could reach. "I hope you're not done yet." His eyes widened as his penis engorged 'till it was poker stiff. "Hot damn, Fuu." He breathed. He wasted no time removing his shirt and haori, then opening and removing her kimono entirely, needing to feel her flesh against his, despite the cool of the night air. He stroked her clit a couple of times before entering her again. He stopped a moment before setting a pace that was slower that what he normally did, but not teasingly slow either, as their bodies slid against each other. When Fuu tried going faster, he wouldn't let her. "I want to go as long as possible. Okay?" He murmured in her ear. She smiled. "Okay." She let him set the pace. This was more like how it had been the other night under the stars. The throbbing in her loins grew stronger with every slow thrust, but in slow waves that got increasingly enjoyable yet infuriating at the same time, because it wasn't enough to come. When she finally did come, it was hard and jerkingly intense, their sweat slicked bodies pressed against one another hard. She grabbed Mugen's ass to hold him closer as he emptied into her, moaning his name.

Grinning, Mugen felt she'd be the death of him. Despite their arguing and how much of a pain Fuu could be sometimes, he still couldn't help but think it might be a good death.

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	10. Chapter10:IllnessAndA seriousProposition

Chapter 10

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When they dressed, they went in search of an inn open at that early hour. Mugen seemed reluctant to even enter the town, but Fuu pointed out that it was small and not likely that the residents had would recognize them even if the government had already put up handbills. When she asked Mugen if he was planning to run out on the inn's bill, he told her he had gotten paid for his work the day the assassins had come. This was good, because Fuu had lost everything she owned in the fire, including her money. If it hadn't been for Jin, she probably would have forgotten to pick up her tanto. She fingered it now, trying hard not to think of the memory of Mrs. Anno screaming 'till she died. Her fingers clenched.

Mugen looked over and noticed her tension. Frowning, he caught her up in his arms and held her, guessing at her distress, but not knowing what else to do for her. She gasped in surprise at his actions. Looking up into his face, she stroked it. "I'm alright. Remembering is just… hard. I'm also tired." She grinned, softly and ruefully, at him. "'Kay." He said, scooping her up. "Mugen!" She protested. "I didn't mean you have to carry me!" He raised an eyebrow at her before kissing her soundly. "Shut up and nap a bit. I'll find us a place." Recognizing that stubborn glint in his eye, she sighed. Snuggling into his chest, she closed her eyes for a bit. Soon she was snoring lightly. Mugen grinned. She was super cute when she slept.

Mugen found them an inn, surprised that there was anyone awake to man the place. The innkeeper looked at the scruffy man holding the sleeping woman before frowning and getting out a room key. He hoped the girl was there of her own will, but a customer was a customer. He didn't dare ask in such financially trying times, for fear of offending the man. He showed the scruffy tough looking man the room, then fetched fresh futons, a pitcher of water, sheets and towels, and set them inside their room beside the door. Then he left with a bow.

Mugen set Fuu down and set about rolling out the futon and making up the bed. Then he carried her over and deposited her on the bed. Not wanting to wake her, he carefully got her out of her outer and inner kimonos, removed her tanto, hair pins and her shoes, and then pulled the covers up to her chin. He set those things aside and removed his sword, shoes, shirt and haori. Tired though he was, he sat next to her on the futon and watched her sleeping face for a while, thinking. Finally, he lay down and slept, holding her close.

After a long sleep, Mugen stretched, careful not to hit Fuu, and yawned. Then he pulled her to him and held her like that, looking up at the ceiling and thinking. This thing he had with Fuu was so weird, but he liked it, more than he cared to say. She made him think about things, hope and wish for things even, that he never had before. That was hard. Never hoping for anything good had been easier. He'd had less to lose.

She made him look at parts of himself he had ignored for so long, without even trying. She was a pain in the ass, but she was _his_ pain in the ass. He didn't want to lose her. She eased the hardness in his life. Her warmth next to him made it easier to sleep at night. Not to mention, he grinned, she was surprisingly damn good in bed. She was warm and exciting and distracting. As ball and chains went, that wasn't too bad.

Her eyelids fluttered. "Mmm" She put her arm around him sleepily. He grinned. Then she sat bolt upright, covered her mouth and searched the room frantically, before racing to a bucket that had to be the privy, and proceeded to retch into it. Mugen came over to her and pulled her hair out of the way. "You're still ralphing because of them bodies?" He asked, concerned. "I don't know. Maybe. It could be the stomach flu." "Well maybe you're just hungry. We only had fish yesterday." "Maybe that's it." She agreed weakly. "I'll get us some grub then." She nodded as he settled her hair on her back and then brought her the water pitcher and a cup from the lone table in the room. He kissed her forehead and left, shutting the door behind him. She smiled at his concern.

Rinsing out her mouth, she rubbed her stomach. This was the third time she threw up in three days. Granted, the first time was because she smelled burning bodies for the first time. She hoped she wasn't sick.

Realizing she was only in her underwear, Fuu found her clothes and dressed. Mugen must have undressed her and tucked her in. He kept surprising her with the quietly sweet things he did. He really had changed, though he was still his ornery self.

When he returned, Mugen set a tray of food on the table and sat next to it. He handed Fuu bowls of rice and miso soup, and a plate with a fish before serving himself. Expecting her to fall on the food and devour it in minutes, he was surprised when she smelled the food and turned a little green. She turned her head away from the food. "I can't eat it. The smell is making me nauseous." He eyed her. He'd never heard of her refusing food before. "You gotta be sick. …But at least try some rice. Come on. Rice don't smell like anything. " He held out the bowl. She sighed and took it. Sniffing, she found it didn't make her queasy. She ate the rice slowly. Happily, she discovered she could keep it down.

"You sure you shouldn't be seeing a doctor or something?" Mugen didn't look up from his food. "Well, I can eat anyway so it's probably not super serious. It's not like I'm throwing up all day. I'll probably be fine for traveling. I think I'll just wait a few days. If it gets worse or something, I'll get looked at." Mugen put a bored look on his face and in his tone. "Sure." Only a the slightly sharp glimmer in his eye that only someone who'd spent time with him would even notice, betrayed his concern. Fuu, who was trying to stuff as much rice in her face as possible, didn't see it. Mugen polished off the food she wouldn't touch, then burped and lay on his side, his head propped up with his hand. He stared at her intently as she ate her rice, thinking. Not noticing that Fuu had finished and was watching him think, he finally scratched his head furiously and growled, before lying flat on his back. "Must be nuts." He muttered. "Who? Why?" Fuu crawled over to him, curious.

Seeing her looming over him and staring with those big brown doe eyes of hers, his cheeks went slightly warm. "It's nothing, girly." He looked away. Are you…blushing?" Fuu squeaked, shocked. He looked at her sharply and sat up. "I am not! I don't blush! You're imagining things." He said angrily. "But…you're cheeks were a bit red." She said quietly, half to herself. "They were not! Drop it, would'ja?" He glared at her. "Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest, slightly annoyed and a little hurt by his tone.

Mugen leaned against the wall and rubbed his chin and mouth, looking out the window. Fuu sat slightly facing away from him for a few seconds, before moving to fold up the bed sheets and futon. "You don't need to do that. The staff will when we leave." He looked back at her, an eyebrow arched. She shrugged, not looking at him, and kept folding sheets. Sighing, he came over and helped her. "Now who's being sensitive?" "Huh?" She frowned, but let him help. "You said I was being too sensitive because I…well, back there on the beach." "I was being sharp with you then. I shouldn't have been. But I'm surprised you noticed about that." "What? That you were all sensitive?" He shook his head. "You're not subtle, you know?" "Well, normally you ignore it if I am, then." She told him. "Seriously? Don't make a big deal of it, or I'll go back to ignoring it then." She shrugged. "I'm just surprised, is all."

He grinned. She was always arguing with him. When it didn't piss him off, he secretly liked it, though he couldn't say why. But then nothing made sense with her…and yet…somehow everything did. That burned his brain to think about. It also didn't make sense. He grinned wider. "Dumb broad." He pulled her into his embrace. She pushed away from him half-heartedly, but gave up when he wouldn't let her go. "You're dumb too." She informed him, settling against his shoulder and nuzzling his neck. He rolled his eyes, grinning.

Not seeing his reaction from that angle, Fuu wondered if Mugen's silence meant what had she said annoyed him. She turned to look at him. He seemed to be thinking again. "Mugen?" "Mm?" "Are you annoyed?" He arched an eyebrow and gave her a look. "No." "Oh…"

They really should get going, but she liked sitting here quietly with him. She let him think, though she wondered what he thought about so much lately. She picked up his hand and absentmindedly traced the lines and scars there. Whatever it was, he was working through it. When the time came that he seemed to be done, she'd ask him.

"Fuu?" He raked his other hand through his hair. "What?" He gently but firmly turned her so she faced him. He stared at her so intently that she grew uncomfortable. "What?" She repeated, worried. He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. Staring past her at the wall behind her, he mumbled something. Fuu sighed in exasperation. "What? Spit it out already!" He glared at her. "I said: Maybe we…" He faltered and looked down. He cleared his throat. "should…get married."

Fuu blinked, sure she misheard. "I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong. Could you repeat that?" Mugen got up and turned around, sighing in frustration. "You heard me." "I heard you saying you think we should get married." Looking out the window, he spoke low. "Exactly."

Fuu stood there in shock as his words hit her. If he hadn't confirmed it, she'd have though he was pulling her leg or she really did mishear. The idea of Mugen wanting…actually _wanting_…to marry _anyone_ was almost laughable. She never imagined him proposing to her. Oh kami, he _was _proposing, wasn't he? He wasn't saying it casually. He couldn't even look at her. He must be very serious about it. She stared at him looking out the window, her eyes wide.

'It's too soon!' Her mind screamed. 'I'm only eighteen!'

Forcing herself to calm down, she went next to him. Speaking softly, she told him this, more calmly than she had thought it. He turned to her sharply. "You're _not_ too young." He rubbed his hand through his hair, frustrated. He knew what was coming. "_Fine_. I'm not ready to be married." She put a hand on his arm, and gentled her tone. "Maybe sometime, but not yet. I won't say that I don't intend to ever, or that it wouldn't be with you. I do want to get married…someday. But now…now…I just can't." "Why?" The question popped out before he could stop it. "I don't know exactly, okay Mugen? I just feel I'm too young. Even if I'm not. Jeez." "Okay, okay. Don't get your panties in a bunch." He drawled, leaning against the wall. "Why do you want to so much?" He immediately sobered up. He shrugged, his face expressionless.

Finally he attempted to answer. "Life… is short. Who knows if we'll be alive tomorrow." He inhaled deeply. "I just…want… _you_. I don't… want you going anywhere." She reached up to stroke his face. "I told you; I'm not going anywhere." She understood his feeling of life being short; he must have lived like that his whole life. And now the government dogging them was like a grim promise theirs would be short. But Fuu preferred to be optimistic about their survival chances. She also saw his worry that she would leave him someday from his words. But she couldn't see that happening. She was crazy about him, even when he was a being jerk. Which was less than normal lately, but it still happened often enough.

He really _loved_ her. He still couldn't say the words, but he made his meaning clear. Almost glowing, she held him; her face pressed into his shirt, and smelled his scent. "I just… want you too." She looked up at him. "When I'm ready feel free to ask me again." "Well who the hell knows when that will be. Guess I'll just have to keep asking." He told her, half serious and half joking. She shrugged. "Fair enough." She mentally sighed in relief, feeling glad their conversation hadn't made him close off to her like had been on their quest for the sunflower samurai. She put her hands on either side of his face and drew him down for her soft kiss. "You better not go anywhere too." She told him seriously. "No dying on me either." He smiled; a real smile. "That last I'd like to promise girly, but you know I can't." "Hmph. Jerk." She kissed him again. "Do your best then." "Always." He held her.

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Hehe. The ending is sweet.

Just a blurb: I cut the story off at the part I did, even thought that makes this the shortest chapter in the story so far (I try to keep over 3k words ;) ) because it works best that way.

Okay, so I thought it was funny about Mugen proposing. I know it seems totally oc, but as you can see, Fuu is resistant to the idea. At first he was totally against it, but she surprised him when she told him she wasn't eager to get married. Since then he's been thinking about that, and why is that/how could that be. Consequently, he's been thinking about marriage _a lot _sinceshe revealed her lack of interest in marriage. You notice how he thinks to himself about fuu: 'as far as ball-and-chains went, that wasn't bad'? When he mutters 'must be nuts', he means himself, for considering it so seriously. For suddenly wanting it. I just find it funny. lol.

Note that for a modern 'Westerner', eighteen can be thought of as too young to get married (though not by everyone). But in Edo period japan, commoners were married moms with babies by then. Some were married as young as 13 or younger. And some were stuck with abusive or negligent husbands they never chose for themselves. Even ladies who might marry later were probably married by then, or at least engaged. Fuu is different because she's free of family pressure to marry some local guy because her parents want it because she's an orphan. She always struck me as independent and unusual for a girl of her time. It seems logical to me that she would pick to wait. She doesn't want to get trapped in a marriage after what she's seen in the whole culture there. Even if its Mugen proposing.

Technical note about : I wish they let me keep spaces between relevant paragraphs (like when its a different day), but the only way to separate them is wit the horizontal line. Since I use that to seprate the body of the story from the header and footnotes, I feel I can't use that for separating relevant paragraphs. Does anyone else who writes fanfics here wish they could do this too? And how do you deal with this when posting stories?

Please rate and review. :)


	11. Chapter 11: Enceinte

Chapter 11

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Warning: You are going to get an educashun. :D *Also: If you don't know what the title 'Enceinte' means, don't look it up till the end of the chapter, because its a **huge** spoiler. Plus I'll give the definition at the end.

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They left the inn after paying the innkeeper, who looked at them wide-eyed, for all he said nothing. After buying some food for the road, they traveled southwest, skirting the bigger towns and keeping off well-traveled roads when the saw official looking people.

Four days later they arrived in Toyama. Fuu was still sick every day, but not always in the morning. Her illness was strange, making her sick at random seeming times, without a discernible pattern, except that it was often accompanied by a smell she smelled. It hadn't hindered her from traveling, and she often felt fine except for those random nauseous times. She could even eat normally when the nausea attacks didn't appear, except she found she sometimes had strong cravings for certain foods here and there.

Mugen's money had run out by now, so he convinced her to shelter behind the altar of a temple and sleep there for the night while he would go in search of some food for dinner. Fuu raised an eyebrow at this, but resigned herself to his obvious plans of thievery because she was hungry again and too tired to walk any more.

She rested where he left her and thought while he was gone. She thought about the events that brought them to this place and about Mugen's change in attitude towards her, though he still tended to argue with her or snap at her. And the past few days he had seemed a bit distant to her. He had held her hand openly as they traveled, and he certainly couldn't keep his hands off her, but he seemed a bit distant and closed off more than he had been before then. She thought they had come to an agreement about the marriage thing, so it couldn't be that either, unless he was still upset she hadn't agreed to marry him. She wondered if maybe he was still sore about the comments about him blushing. That didn't seem to fit, but she couldn't think about what else it could be. It could be that he was worried about being followed, but then that would make him more alert, not as if he was preoccupied with thinking of something serious every day like he seemed to be. She rested her head back against the cool stone of the altar and shut her eyes, putting it out of her mind for the moment.

Surely Jin had reached Fukui by now. With luck he had met no assassins along the way. She wondered how many days it would be 'till they met up with him again. It was already close to a week since he left them, and he hadn't found her to say goodbye because he was in such a hurry. She suddenly got the feeling something was off. Something to do with dates. It wasn't like they had to meet Jin for a specific date or something, so wh-

She realized what it was in a startling piece of clarity. Her cycle was late. She shook her head. 'I must have it wrong.' She counted the days since her last one, on fingers that shook. After counting and recounting, she mumbled "No way!" with eyes wide. "I can't be…" 'Pregnant.' She thought. She thought of the vomiting. It fit. 'No, no, no, no!' She looked down at her stomach, wide eyed. Gingerly, she touched it, overwhelmed at the possibility of life growing there. It would be Mugen's of course. He was the only one she'd ever slept with. By the way they kept going at it like rabbits she shouldn't have been surprised. But she was. 'I have to be sure. I'll see what the doctor says when I go.' But by now she was pretty convinced this was no stomach flu. She tried to calm herself down.

Mugen. He had made it clear he didn't want kids. What would she tell him? Did she dare even try? Just then he walked into the shrine and appeared behind the altar. "Are you okay? You're kind of pale. Feeling sick again?" He squatted next to her. She tried to cover her swirling feelings with a smile. It came out weak. "No. I'm just a bit tired." She only half-lied. "Well here. Eat if you can." He handed her several meat buns. She forgot her fear and devoured them. "Anything to drink?" Mugen handed her a waterskin with a grin. "No handbills for our arrest. My guess is the government don't want a big to-do over catching us." She drank greedily as he ate his meat buns, then lay down. "Well at least we won't get non-government assassins after us." She said, yawning. She _was_ tired. He lifted the strap of his sword over his head and put it to the side. "Well if they did, I'd have more fun." He grinned dangerously at her. He didn't want to let her know that he was worried. Sara was no joke. Anything worse than her and he might bite it. That didn't bother him so much. He knew every day he lived was lucky in this hard-assed life. That was just the way shit were. But how would Fuu survive without him, with the government out to get her too? He wouldn't _let_ _them_ kill her. He'd just have to kill them all first.

Neither of them spoke about it, but they both thought about what unknown form the government was coming in for them. As he lay down next to her, she snuggled up to him and was soon fast asleep to the sound of his heart beating.

The next day, Fuu finally went to see a doctor. The big-bellied man asked her some questions about her illness and did some tests on her before giving his assessment. "You're pregnant." The older man told her bluntly. "No doubt about it." "You sure?" "Course I'm sure. Let me guess, it's your first time?" Fuu nodded wordlessly. "Don't worry; women have babies all the time. Is the man still with you or do you got family to look after you?" She looked down. "He…he's with me…but he said he doesn't want kids." She admitted in a small voice, embarrassed to tell this to a stranger, for all he was a doctor. "No family?" "No." He nodded. "Do you want to keep it? I can make you a brew that will get rid of it if you like."

Fuu blinked, surprised she had a choice. She hadn't imagined she could undo being pregnant without giving birth. "I… I don't know. I hadn't thought about it." She put a hand on her stomach. Mugen's baby was growing in there. _Their_ baby. She shivered, unnerved at the thought. "No." She said firmly, suddenly knowing she couldn't kill it. It frightened her to think of giving birth and being a mother. She also didn't know how Mugen would react, and that worried her. She could only hide it so long. But it was a piece of him, and it was alive. The very thought of aborting it made her nauseous.

Then it hit her. She was going to be a _mom_. 'Oh my god.' She wasn't sure she could do this. Seeing her reaction, the doctor handed her a cup of water. "Drink this, it will help you calm down." She took the cup with a hand that shook and looked into it. "Drink." He repeated, his dark eyes kind. As she sipped the water, she felt herself calm down a little. She drank some more. By the time she finished the cup, she wasn't perfectly calm, but she could think. "You'll need to remember some things since you're keeping it." He told her after she settled. "First; vomiting is normal in pregnancy. It's called morning sickness, even though it doesn't just happen in the morning. It usually happens about once a day and will last one and a half to two months long. You will get nauseous by certain food smells and not want to eat those, but what types are different from woman to woman and even pregnancy to pregnancy. You'll also get cravings for certain foods." He paused. "It is important that you eat and eat regularly. You're going to want to eat slightly more than normal because you are eating for two. The child will get nutrients from what you eat first, so if you don't eat or eat enough, you will feel the effects first. Avoid raw food, but you can eat most other foods. Drink plenty of water. If you think you got food poisoning, drink water and see a healer. Don't drink alcohol or use any drugs." He scratched his cheek. "Pregnancies last about nine months from conception. Your belly will start to grow after three to three and a half months and your breasts will enlarge at one and a half to two months to produce milk for the baby. You will give birth at about nine months. You'll know when it's time because water will come out of you down there," He gestured so she knew where he meant. She looked at her hands, embarrassed by being spoken to so candidly. "and then you will get contractions which, I'm told, usually hurt more and more as they increase in frequency. Try to find a doctor or midwife when this happens." He paused and let all of that sink in.

After a silence, Fuu tentatively cleared her throat. "And what about…uh…being intimate?" She blushed crimson and looked at her feet. But she had to know. "That's fine until very late in the pregnancy. It won't be an issue until the last three months, and even then it depends on if there are complications with the pregnancy or not. If not, it should be fine until around the last month. Don't do physically demanding things, especially the further along you get. For example, try not to lift stuff that's too heavy. Don't ride horses and don't run too hard. You have to be careful not to hit your stomach. In the first three months you have the most chance of losing the child, but if you're careful and aware of it, you should be fine. In general, take things easy if you get tired, drink water if you get hot or thirsty, and if you think something is wrong, or if you think you're experiencing contractions, see a midwife or doctor immediately. "

Fuu nodded, surprised at his unflinching matter-of-fact way, but she supposed doctors saw so many women for this reason that it was routine to them by now. She tried to commit what he said to memory and not worry too hard about it. She figured she could always see another healer if she didn't remember something. She had a thought. "Oh. Can I get pregnant while I'm pregnant?" He smiled at her. "No."

Fuu walked out of the doctor's office, thinking about what he'd told her. She sat on a nearby low stone wall. Though she had calmed down a little about being pregnant, it just seemed so surreal. "I'm going to be a mom." She muttered, trying to get her head around that idea.

Could she even be a good mom? She didn't know.

She worried most about keeping a child alive when the government was bent on terminating them. After uttering a brief prayer to Kami that they wouldn't encounter troubles that would make her lose it at the first small road shrine she came across, she walked away from it into the street.

Either way, she'd better focus on the here and now. She was supposed to go job hunting after visiting the doctors, then meet back at the shrine where they had slept, since they didn't have the funds for a room at an inn yet. She sighed. Hoping working wouldn't become an issue with her pregnancy, she went asking around if anyone was hiring.

Perhaps it was her experience or perhaps it was out of a need for the familiar, but she gravitated towards restaurants and tea houses, and ended up getting hired waitressing at a local restaurant that specializing in different kinds of dumplings. She smiled, remembering the day Mugen walked into the dumpling shop where she worked, and how her plain life got much more interesting after that, if unpredictable. Even though she hadn't been on the governments hit list back then (as far as she knew in those days), given a choice she wouldn't change how things had happened in her life until now.

She started work almost immediately and was kept busy taking orders, serving the customers, clearing away dishes and wiping down tables. She served while avoiding potential accidental blows to the stomach like the plague, hyper-conscious of her need for caution.

Her bosses were a middle aged couple who were kind but strict and liked her work ethic. When she finished for the day, the wife told her to be on time tomorrow and gave her some dumplings to take away with her for her dinner. Fuu walked the distance to the shrine and found it empty, except for a few people offering prayers. She stood there as if meditating or praying as she waited for them to leave, and contemplated if she should tell Mugen about the pregnancy or just write it off as the flu.

She might be able to pull that off until she started showing, but if she did that, he'd probably be even more mad, knowing she deceived him for a few months. He wouldn't trust her again so easily. But she didn't want him to leave her. He had _said _he didn't want kids. He might leave in either case. But lies or truth, she had to tell him something. She didn't know how long she stood there warring with herself, when a voice broke through her thoughts. "Hey. You asleep on yer feet?" She jumped, startled. It was Mugen. "No." She answered back weakly. "Don't freak me out like that!" she punched his shoulder. He grinned and shrugged. Then he sat behind the altar and stretched out his legs. "I got a job. As a waitress at a restaurant that specialises in dumplings. I also scored some for free for dinner for working there. It's a nice bonus." She grinned at him and sat down, not realizing she was tired until she did. She started opening the package of dumplings that were wrapped in bamboo leaves.

"Sweet." Mugen pulled out his haul, which was cooked rice in cheap wooden bowls and some kind of small fish with a dark sauce on it. She took her share and scarfed it down, starving. She split up the dumplings equally and gave half to Mugen. They ate without talking.

After, they leaned back against the altar, relaxing in the warm night air. Fuu found she still didn't have the courage to tell him she was pregnant. "What kind of job did you find?" She asked him nervously, certain he could read her thoughts. "The usual. Guarding. Well, not like body guarding. More like security for this weapons smith." He yawned and put his hands behind his head.

After some comfortable silence, he broke it. "What did the doc say?" Fuu froze. She knew this moment was coming, but she hadn't decided what to tell him yet. "I..uh.. He said that my vomiting was normal." Her hopes that this was enough for him went unfounded. "Normal for what? The stomach flu?" He asked, looking her in the eye. "No." She said in a small voice. "Then what?" He gave her a look. She closed her eyes and drew a breath. Crossing her fingers, she blurted. "I'm pregnant."

When he didn't respond at all, she opened her eyes. He stared at her intensely for a long while. "What?" He finally responded, his voice low and pinched. "Are you pulling my leg?" Fuu looked down miserably. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. He blanched, realizing she was dead serious.

Sitting up straight, he got to his feet in a flash. Pacing like a panther, he glared at no one, trying not to explode from all the confusing thoughts and feelings racing through him. He rounded on her. "I thought you said you were taking those herb things. I thought you said you couldn't have kids when you took them!"

Fuu flinched at his tone and backed up. "Using them was never a guarantee. It just reduces the chances a lot." "Why didn't you tell me that before!" He growled. She got to her feet slowly. "You never asked." She said quietly. "You _fucking bitch_." "Excuse me?" She glared at him, angry at his choice of words. He turned from her and ran a hand through his hair. "_Damnit Fuu_!" He resumed pacing, letting out a string of expletives. Fuu waited, afraid of what he'd decide to do.

He stopped again. "Is it mine?" Fuu put her hands on her hips. "Really? Who else's would it be? Who else would I have time to sleep with _on the run_?" He relaxed slightly and raised an eyebrow, speaking sardonically. "Fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch." She rolled her eyes at him.

He thought. "Can't you get rid of it or something?" "What the fuck, Mugen? I am not killing our child!" She glared at him, holding a protective arm over her stomach. "It's not a kid yet." He glared. What she said freaked him out, but he kept his face from showing that. Barely. "It is. And I am _not_ getting rid of it. That's _final_."

"_Eugh_! I told you Fuu. I _told_ you! No kids. _Remember_?" He went back to pacing. "How could I forget." She whispered miserably. "It's not like I planned this!" Her eyes blazed. Tears formed in her eyes but didn't fall. "Then why do you want to keep it so bad?"

She mumbled something. "What?" She looked at him unhappily. "Because it's part of you." She was barely audible. He turned red and turned away from her, cursing again.

Finally, he stopped moving about and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed looking sullen, but not talking. She waited to see if he was going to start yelling again. When she figured he wasn't going to yell at her anymore, she sat down with a tired sigh. As much as she wanted to know what he was thinking and what he would do, she wanted to sleep more right now. She laid down.

He looked over at her and then sighed. He sat down next to her, but not as close as usual. "Mugen?" "I'm fine. I just…could you leave me alone for a bit?" If she had been less tired, she might have the strength to be a little offended, even though she understood his need to think. He saw her nod slightly, even though she was facing away from him. She slowly fell asleep, but Mugen sat up for many hours, thinking and feeling and rationalizing.

The words '_our_ child' that she had said rang through his head over and over. He shook his head angrily. It wasn't a kid. He didn't have a kid. How the fuck could she get so worked up over an unborn kid when she didn't even want to get married? It made no sense. He couldn't be a…dad…What the _fuck_? He didn't even know what that was. And the universe knew that eggs have no business dancing with stones. He and his life was the stone and a kid was the egg. Fucking Fuu! Should have told him that shit wasn't a guarantee. Then he mentally laughed at his own stupidity. Didn't he of all people, know there was never any guarantees? It was his fault for believing her blindly. _This _was the sort of shit that got you killed. Believing in a thing without proof. He should know better. He had no business having a child. He'd bring it misery and an early death. And if it survived past infancy, he didn't want a kid growing up like him; parent-less and angry.

And hadn't he already messed with Fuu's life enough? He promised he'd be careful not to screw it up more than he had, and now look at what he did. He had gotten her pregnant. Maybe he should stop pretending this thing with her was something he could have. It would be better, safer for both of them. …_And the kid_. He added as an afterthought, shuddering mentally.

Finally he got up silently and stared at her in the light of the moon for a long time, before walking out of the shrine and out onto the road. He walked away, down the road into the night.

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Enceinte: In this instance it means pregnant. I told you it was a spoiler. I like to make tittles that are accurate in summing up the chapter, but without giving things away. I couldn't think of a more roundabout way to sum up that Fuu finds out she's pregnant. Fun fact: The word also means 'enclosure' or 'the area enclosed'.

Yeah mugen is running away. What will happen next?

Please rate and review!


	12. Chapter 12: Major thoughts and

**Chapter 12 **** : Major thoughts and minor irritations **

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Fuu had woken when he got up and left. She pretended to sleep, not knowing if he was going to relieve himself or was leaving her for good. After a very long time of waiting, she knew without a doubt that he had left her. It was what she had feared. She cried silent tears into her arm, feeling more alone than when her mother had died. This was why she didn't want to tell him the truth. Finally, she wiped her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. At least she had a job. That was better than having nothing. She touched her stomach and then closed her eyes.

After a few hours, Mugen stopped in his tracks as a thought struck him in the swirling mess of what he was feeling. What the fuck was wrong with him? Him leaving wouldn't make the government stop hunting her, even if she was pregnant. They made it clear they were determined to clean house. These bastards didn't give a shit about stuff like they quarry being pregnant. There was no way she could defend herself against government assassins, never mind with a baby to watch out for. "Motherfucker!" He swore loudly, knowing that whatever he felt about her pregnancy was irrelevant compared to that, and turned around; heading back the way he came.

Fuu was starting to nod off, when she heard a familiar clacking sound on the wood floor of the shrine. She opened an eye slightly and saw Mugen come behind the altar and lay down next to her. Shutting her eye sleepily, she grinned stupidly. He came back! He had decided not to leave her after all. She felt his arm snake around her waist. "I love you." She murmured, her eyes still closed. "I think that makes you stupid." He said into her ear as he closed his eyes with a small grin, surprised that she had forgiven him so easily when it was clear she knew he had left. "Hmm." She agreed peacefully.

As Mugen woke up slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light while the sun rose. The colors played on the back wall of the shrine, chasing the shadows away.

He knew he was in trouble. He was in territory so far off the map for him that he could only fumble and hope he got things right. He could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that he'd ever stay with a woman long enough to have a kid, never mind actually having the kid with that woman. Or have one at all. Being a dad sounded like something Jin might be able to pull off, not him. He had no patience for brats. And now he had to keep not just Fuu alive from those government bastards, but some squalling, smelly mess who'd slow them down considerably.

Oh shit. What the fuck was a dad anyway? He fought panic with an iron fist. It was winning. His mind suddenly flashed an image of the man in his dreams swinging from a noose. He shook his head to get rid of it. It had just been a dream. He didn't know that man. He didn't remember his parents.

But it was too late. He _had_ returned. He had to deal with this hot mess, ready or not. 'Fuck.' He should have kept away from her. It would have been better for all of them if he'd kept pretending he didn't like her. Now there was nothing he could do.

Thinking like that wasn't going to help him. Or them. 'Eugh.' He flipped over to face Fuu. Her peaceful face calmed him somewhat. He gingerly put a hand on her stomach. It felt the same. _But there was life in there_. He was both freaked out and awed by that fact; not that he wanted to admit it. If it was anyone else's kid he probably would care at all. But _his_ kid was growing in her. _His_ kid. He was finding it hard to breathe. He moved his hand away as if burned. Then he held her tightly, careful not to crush her stomach; unable to speak and barely able to think.

He thought back to their earlier conversation. ' "Why do you want to keep it so bad?" "Because it's a part of you." '

Never had anyone belonged to him. He had never belonged to anyone.

He was very worried. If Fuu left him, if she died, he didn't know what he would do. He didn't know if he could survive it. He hated that fear. He had too much to lose now. Too much.

God damn it! He was turning into a pansy. What the fuck was wrong with him? Any asshole could slice him up in seconds if he acted like this in a fight. Fuck!

Mugen shook his head and looked at Fuu's stomach. He couldn't help but wonder if it was a boy or a girl.

Sitting up, he groaned and raked his hand through his hair. "Whatever." He murmured before getting up and putting on his shirt, haori and slung his sword strap over his shoulder. They would need to get a room for their stay. Now that he'd set his mind to keeping the thing in Fuu's stomach alive long enough to become a kid, not just keep her alive, he was set to do just that, whatever he felt about the… kid.

He had known from the moment she had firmly set her mind about keeping this kid, he had no say in it. He couldn't really force her to lose it or give it up. She was too stubborn. The him who had just met her would have just said 'screw it.' And leave. But he couldn't. He was realizing now, the morning after deciding to stay, that he hadn't just decided to stay because the government were set to kill her as well as him and Jin. If they weren't after her, it might have taken him longer to return; perhaps he'd have left for a day or even a few, but he was realizing that he still would have returned. He rolled his eyes and rubbed a temple.

"Girly. Wake up already." He shook her gently. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him sleepily when she saw his face. "Eugh. Just get up." He muttered, looking away. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes.

He helped her stand and then hugged her tightly. Fuu squeaked at the sudden action. She looked up into his eyes. Although his tan face was devoid of obvious emotion, she could tell he was afraid by the tension he exuded. She hugged him. "It will be okay." She tried to reassure him. He looked down at her sharply. "Don't lie to me." He growled softly. "Lie to yourself if you have to, but not to me." He stroked her cheek with the rough pad of his thumb absentmindedly, looking into the space past her head without seeing. Fuu's eyes widened at his words. They made her suddenly afraid. She liked to believe they would come out of this thing with the shogunate okay. She was a realist and knew their odds, but she had always preferred optimism. But Mugen's words had betrayed an uncertainty at their chances for survival that frightened her. He knew his own fighting skill level better than anyone and she knew he was extremely skilled; virtually undefeatable. So far. To be saying what he was implying meant he believed there was far worse coming for them than the ninjas, or the brothers, or Sara, or Kariya. And he was uncertain he could handle it. She hugged him tighter and buried her face into his shirt. This snapped him out of his thoughts.

She looked up into his face anxiously. "Promise me you won't die!" "Fuu…" "_Promise me_!" He looked away from her penetrating gaze. "You know I can't promise something like that. I already said I'd do my best not to. That's all I can do." She shoved away from him, hiding her face with her hair.

"Fuu?" He reached out for her instinctively, but she surprised the shit out of him by beaming up at him suddenly and jumping into his arms. She kissed him. "Then we just have to make the most of our time." She whispered into his mouth. He grinned. Nothing seemed to stop her long. "I always do." As if to prove it, he thrust his tongue in her mouth and corkscrewed her tongue with his. Her eyes popped open wide. When she broke away for air, gasping, she grinned widely. "We're going to have to practice that one." "Not now. One thing will lead to other things…" He smirked suggestively at her. "And then we'll both be fired for being late for work. Not that it bothers me much, but we gotta keep you fed." He put his hand on her stomach meaningfully.

Fuu stared at him, caught between the need to cry in happiness and confusion at his change in attitude. She opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. Clearing her throat, she waited until she could speak calmly. "You confuse me. …I don't think I'll ever understand you." "Don't try." He leaned back and crossed his arms. She rolled her eyes at this. "What confuses you?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear what it was. "You were never this kind before." "What do ya mean?" He bristled. "I thought you hated the baby." "Oh." Relaxing, he stared at her stomach for a moment. Finally, he shrugged. "I don't know." After eyeing her stomach he flicked his eyes up to linger on her face meaningfully. "But I protect what's mine." He stated simply.

Fuu blushed. After kissing him sweetly, she asked "You _sure_ you don't have a fever?" She felt his forehead. "Whatever. Off to work with you already." He smacked her ass. She glared at him for a moment, and then grinned. "You're such a pervert." He shrugged, smugly grinning back at her. They left the shrine hand in hand.

A few days later, Fuu was returning from her job and heading for the inn they were staying at when a group of young men started harassing her. It started when they cat-called her, and she walked on by, ignoring them. They had gotten up from where they had been sitting and eating, and started following her, jeering. "Hey, why are you ignoring us?" "We're just being friendly." "Come on hang with us." On it went. Finally she got annoyed and whirled around to face them. "Leave me alone! I'm not interested! Geez!" She turned to go, but one of them grabbed her wrist and she couldn't pull free. Getting mad she turned to face him and raised her free arm to hit him. "Now that's not very friendly, is it boys?" A tall, dark haired young man in the group said as he grabbed her free arm and tapped the hilt of a katana hanging at his waist with his other hand as he tugged her away from the street. "Let go!" She tossed insults out at them. It didn't escape her notice that they had surrounded her and were slowly herding her towards an alley. She looked around for help but the people nearby were either pretending not to notice and looking away, really didn't notice, or didn't care. She struggled against her captors, but was afraid that if she fought too hard, something might go wrong with the baby in her. She was contemplating screaming for Mugen, when she actually heard screaming and felt a wind whip past her. In a flash, the guys were gone, and the pressure was eased off her wrists. She rubbed them, looking around.

Mugen was standing facing the guy with a katana, his eyes cold, his mouth curved in a dangerous grin. His sword dripped red. Fuu looked around and saw her tormentors dead on the ground. She sighed, more in annoyance than relief. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful. But Mugen had gone a little overboard. And now they'd probably have to leave town.

"_You_ don't get to touch her." He was telling the guy quietly, leering at him quite darkly. The young man held his unsheathed katana in front of him like he expected an attack. He was watching Mugen warily, his eyes occasionally flicking back to his dead comrades. "I didn't know she had a boyfriend alright! Particularly a psycho killer for a boyfriend." He muttered this last.

Mugen suddenly moved in a blur, and was behind him before the guy could blink, his sword at the young man's throat. He moved it away from the man's throat and shoved him. He fell and then hastily turned; looking for the katana he dropped. Seeing that this was going to end messily, Fuu grabbed his sword arm as he was about go in for the kill and hung on with all her strength. "No, Mugen!" He nearly flung her off his arm until he realized it was her, and narrowly avoided cutting her with his sword.

He swore. "Why the hell did you do that, you stupid bitch? I could have cut you up by mistake!" He growled, turning to her as he sheathed his sword. The young man took the opportunity to get up and flee. Mugen turned to see him go and spat. "Pansy fucker." A small crowd of people had gathered to look at what was going on. "What are _you_ looking at?" The crowd quickly dispersed; inspired by his threatening tone and scene of the carnage he had created.

"I'm sorry. I am. But you didn't need to kill them. I was just trying to stop you." "What the fuck for? Those fuckers didn't want to go for tea with you, you know that, right?" He glared. "Yeah, that didn't exactly escape me. But you could have just beat them up, not kill them. It was a bit overkill." She informed him. "Oh, well I will try to remember the next time I _save your ass_." "Please do." She sniped back.

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She blinked. "Except for a bruise on each of my wrists where they grabbed me, I'm fine." Mugen frowned. "And junior?" Fuu looked at his expression and couldn't help herself. She began to giggle. "The baby's fine." She finally got out. "So glad I amuse." He grumbled, but took her hand.

When they got up into the room at the inn they were staying at, Fuu shut the door. "We're going to have to leave you know." "You mean, like now? Why?" Mugen eyed her. "No. But soon. I think it's safe to assume killing locals will make someone who we don't want to to notice eventually." "I want to say you're being paranoid, but I guess we gotta step extra careful now, just in case. What a drag." He flopped down on his futon. Carefully, Fuu dropped beside him. She opened he mouth to speak, but her stomach rumbled loudly before she could get a word out. "Seriously Fuu?" He teased. She shoved him. Grinning, he grabbed her. Before she could protest his mouth was on hers, soft and warm. Then he was pulling away and standing. "Okay fatty, I'll find us some grub." "_Mugen, you jerk_!" He laughed and shut the door as she was yelling "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant! And I don't even show yet!"

When he returned, he found her leafing through a book. "What'cha readin'?" He set down the food on the table. She handed it to him and began to open the packages of food. "Mmm." She inhaled, searching for chopsticks.

When he opened the book, he looked at in surprise. Instead of kanji characters, there were pictures. "I thought these porno books burned in the old lady's house." "They did burn." Fuu said with her mouth full. He saw her devouring the food and sat down next to the table, helping himself before she ate it all. "Ease up porky." Mugen began jamming food down his gullet. She just glared and kept eating.

After a few minutes of silence except for the sound of two people enjoying their food, Mugen choked. Fuu handed him a cup of water, which he took and drained greedily between hacking coughs. "You okay?" She asked in concern.

Once he could breathe and speak properly, Mugen ogled Fuu. "If you didn't save them porno books, it means you bought new ones." She glared at him, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. "They are not porn books, they are erotic art! The sales woman called them Shunga." "Same difference." "No way! Erotic art is art." She spluttered. "Pfft."He rolled his eyes. "If you like getting off on it." He gave her the eye. "You know, I particularly found the one with the squid fucking the woman moving. Seriously. I nearly cried." He grinned at how worked up she was getting in defense. "What are you talking about?" He flipped through the book and found the print in question, grinning as he watched her eyes bulge. Turning red, she crossed her arms. "Yeah right. I can't see you being moved. More like it made your nose bleed or turned you on." "I knew you were smart." "But it's still erotic _art_. Its…its…educational." "You bet it is." He drawled. "How come you bought new ones anyway?" It was not something he would have imagined Fuu doing on her own.

"I told you before: I'm studying them." "Are you now?" He crawled around the table so he was next to her and leaned over her. "And have you learned anything…._useful_…yet?" "Maybe." Fuu was dizzy with the sexual tension he was giving off. She barely knew what he asked her. "Why don't you find out." She finally responded. "As long as junior will be okay." She grinned. "You keep asking, and I keep telling you; it won't hurt her." She pulled him down and kissed him. "Well then." He said into her mouth. "How are you sure it's a girl? It could be a boy." "Mugen! Shut up and kiss me!" She said in frustration. First he wanted to have sex and now he wanted to talk? Mugen grinned and took her mouth in his. "As you wish."

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** guest:** You're right. Its a rule I've never liked because it usually kills anything I want to delineate. I will try to master it, but it might be slow, so I'm sorry about that.

** isolarza90:** I'm glad you like it. He's returned, but he still has his issues with it though. :)

**To all the readers:** I'm sorry the update was so late. I've been having trouble with my computer where it turns off or freezes at random. Then It might not turn back on for up to a day. Twice it shut off while I was in the middle of writing, and couldn't save those parts. But I finally managed to finish it. This means my chapters will be coming out slower now (I'm not sure 'till when though), but I _will_ get the chapters out. I already have part of chapter 13 done.

**Please rate and review!**


	13. Chapter 13: Back on the road

**Chapter 13**

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**Warning**: Lemon

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Mugen woke up in a flash to the sound of what he would find out later was a door being kicked in and running feet in the inn corridor. He swiftly pulled on his shorts and unsheathed his sword as Fuu opened her eyes groggily. "What is it?" She asked. He put his fingers to his lips and pointed at the corridor. Suddenly wide awake, she draped the covers around herself, as someone knocked quietly on their door. Rising an eyebrow, Mugen opened it carefully to reveal a man in the official looking clothing of the district police.

"Sorry to bother you and your wife so late at night, but have you seen this man? He's been forging and passing out counterfeit money." He unrolled a handbill. Mugen looked at the thin man in the picture. "Nope. Have you?" He asked Fuu. She looked at it. "Yeah, I've seen him. He has a room down the hall." "He does?" Mugen frowned. "Yep. You just don't notice these things…honey." She grinned. Mugen looked at her in surprise. "We know that he was renting a room here. They've just raided it, but it looks like he left in a hurry. Do you know where he could have gone?" "No sir. He mostly kept to himself. When I came back here last night, I could hear voices talking through his door though. But I wasn't paying attention to what they said." "Well, thank you for your time. If you do run into him, be careful. He runs with some pretty nasty thugs. Although it seems you can take care of yourselves." The policeman eyed Mugen's partially raised sword. He turned and walked back down the corridor as Mugen shut the door.

"Don't." He heard Fuu say from behind him. "Don't what?" He turned to face her as he sheathed his sword. She had seen the excitement in his eyes when the policeman had mentioned the thugs that hung out with the counterfeiter. "Don't go after them." "Why the hell not?" "Don't we have enough trouble without going looking for it?" She frowned. "These guys are probably easy to beat. It's like exercise to me, okay? It's fun. You should know that by now. So don't coddle me. Have some faith it me already." She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his torso. "I do. It's just that… I worry about you. I'm _afraid_." She whispered this last. "I don't want our time to be cut shorter than it already may be." She said grimly. "Don't be afraid. I'll be fine." He said, annoyed but secretly pleased that she worried for him. No one else ever had. Except maybe old four eyes on occasion.

Sighing, she nodded. She never really expected to change his mind. And the Fuu of two years ago would pretend she wasn't worried and let him go, but she found she couldn't, even when she figured he'd find her worrying irritating. "Make sure you get the reward for his capture then. We would have plenty of money to travel with." He found himself once again surprised by her reaction. "Yes _honey_." He teased, unsure of how else to react. She didn't respond to this.

As he pulled on his shirt and haori, he told her "You know, if you want to call me that, you could always marry me. 'Though I don't really like being called honey. It sounds kinda' dumb and too domestic for me." He didn't look at her. "It's weird." He muttered. "Maybe later. Anyway, I don't need to be married to you to call you that." She shrugged. He finally turned around. "What, you want the kid to be a _bastard_?" He said harshly. Without waiting for an answer, her slung his sword over his shoulder and left the room, sliding the door shut a little too hard.

Fuu blinked as tears rose in her eyes. She didn't want to hurt him. But she still wasn't _ready_ to be any man's wife. She wished he could understand that. It wasn't him, it was her. Hadn't she seen what happened if you got married? It wasn't all fun and roses. And it wasn't mandatory for two people who loved each other. So what if their child was born out of wedlock? It's not like they had relatives that would be disappointed. It's not like they lived in a single place where that would matter for the child.

Fuu woke to the sound of the door being slid open. Mugen was back, carrying sacks of something that clinked. Cheerfully, he set them down and stretched his arms. "What's all that?" she asked groggily. "Money." He grinned. "They had a lot on them, and then I went and got the reward too." "Won't their coins be fake?" She was finally awake. "Nah, they're all cut to show they are real coins. The guy must have got rid of the fakes." "What time is it?" "Still early. Go back to sleep. We got to leave today, right?" She watched him carefully, expecting him to get annoyed with her again about the marriage thing. But he just slid himself down next to her and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was snoring lightly. Relieved, she watched him sleep for a bit, her chin proper up on her hands. She always found it surprising how his face changed as he slept so he looked almost like an ordinary young man who hadn't seen the things he had. His face seemed softer and more human. She smiled and swept some errant hair out of his face. A hand snatched her wrist. "What are you doing?" Mugen didn't open his eyes. She shrugged. He sighed sleepily and pulled her to him. "You've gotten softer since we started fucking. Sillier or something." He mumbled, half asleep. "I'm not the only one. …And I'm not silly." She huffed. "And I'm not soft." He mumbled back with a slight frown before snoring again. "Mhm. Sure." She softly kissed his cheek and lay down to sleep in his arms.

The hut was on fire. A dark haired woman put something into his palm. Opening it, he saw the earring she always wore. Looking up, the woman was now Fuu, bleeding to death. Before he could reach out for her, a crow man materialized next to her, blocking Mugen's path. She died. The crow man pointed at the huts entrance. Eyes burning, Mugen looked out and saw a noose hanging from a wooden post. The tortured, broken man in it suddenly changed to Jin. His legs were kicked out from him and he swung, lifeless. Mugen stumbled from the hut in a daze as a man approached the corpse of Fuu lying next to the wood post, with a lecherous look in his eyes. Mugen raised his sword to cut the man down, but found he held sunflowers instead. He dropped them and leapt at the man, overpowering the man easily, as crow men gathered, looking on. Mugen broke his neck in a fury. The dead man was Jin. A pair of crow men grabbed Jin while another pair took Fuu, cut the dead baby from her womb, and began to drag their corpses away. 'No! You don't have to take them! It's me you want.'

"It's me!" He woke up with a start, not realising he had spoken out loud. His abrupt movement woke Fuu. As he struggled to throw of his disorientation, she sat up, fully awake now that she sensed how tense he was. He looked over at her in the dark. "Fuu?" She slid her arms around him. "I'm here." He pulled her into his arms, trying not to let his body tremble and betray how rattled the dream had made him. She had a way of noticing these little give always that no one ever noticed about him, not even the whores he'd slept with. He didn't want to tell her he was afraid of sleeping again for fear of dreaming of it again, and afraid the dream was the crow men letting him know they'd come for her and Jin before this was over. He didn't want her to know.

But she did know. He could tell by how firmly she held onto him, and how she stroked his back comfortingly, without a word. Damn her, how did she always know? She pulled him down to receive her soft kiss and he felt some tension leave him. "It must have been some dream." She murmured into his ear as she pulled him to her. "It's the same one as last time. Anyway, I always dream about the crow men." He shrugged as if it was nothing. "The crow men?" She asked. He looked out beyond her into the dark room, as if he was looking at something far away. "They are always there when I almost die. They wait for me." He shrugged again, more to himself.

Fuu looked disturbed by this, but even if he had noticed, it was too dark to see her face. She realised him dreaming of spectres that appeared in his near-death experiences meant he must dream about death a lot, and that perhaps he dreamed of other horrible things too. She supposed it made perfect sense considering the things he must have seen in his life, but that didn't make it any less disturbing. She thought back to his tension on waking from the dream. These spectres scared him. They must, for him to react that way. He was pretending he wasn't bothered, when moments ago he'd been so tense you could have cut it with a knife. "Come here." She reached out and pulled him down next to her. "Relax and sleep. I'll make sure they don't bother you tonight." As he lay down, he grinned; imagining Fuu giving the crow men hell. "You will huh?" Better them than him. Then he mentally shook his head. "I don't know why they want you. You'd just piss them o-." He shut up, realising what he'd said.

Fuu rolled to face him in surprise. That he was dreaming of his spectres…his crow men… killing her…was very telling. It meant he was very afraid for her life. She was surprised he cared that much. The intensity of it was flattering, but frightening too. It literally took her breath away. She hadn't known he loved her that much.

She tried to see his face, but it was too dark. Reaching over, she found his face and felt along his cheek. "Trying to pick my nose or something girly?" He asked. "No." She said softly. In reality she was gauging his tension, for a confirmation. Let him think she was just feeling up his face or something. She didn't want to have to explain. He probably wouldn't believe her anyway.

As he kept quiet, she could feel the tension, just barely. It was in the slight straining of his cheek muscles, like everywhere she felt.

Then she pulled him to her and held him. "You're one strange broad sometimes." He commented with a yawn as he closed his eyes. She shrugged. "Either way you can sleep easy now. I won't let those crow guys bother you." He grinned at this. She smelled nice. She felt soft and comforting. He forgot the crow men as sleep began to reclaim him again. He could have sworn that the last thing he felt was the soft brush of her lips on his before he lost consciousness.

The day was very hot. As they walked, they saw almost no travelers despite it being in the middle of the day. When they stopped under a tree for a lunch break, Fuu sat down against it carefully with a soft groan. She opened the flask and guzzled down as much water as she could. "Geez Louise! Its soo hot!" After taking a long swig of water, Mugen tossed her a rice ball in seaweed paper. "Maybe we should wait till its cooler to go on?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow at him. Normally it would be her whining for a break and he would get annoyed or tease her for it. "Kid." He pointed at her stomach, giving her a look. Oh right.

She shrugged. "I guess." He rolled his eyes at her. "Not my lookout if you want it to die of overheating. _You're_ the one that wanted to keep it." "You jerk! Don't give me a hard time. We'll wait. Geez!" Crossing her arms she looked away, scowling. He grinned. It was too easy to rile her up. He scooted next to her. "We could do something else while we wait." He leered, hovering over her, and put a hand on her thigh. "It's too hot, remember?" She smacked his hand away. Blowing out his breath in frustration, Mugen frowned. "Well then what do you wanna do?" "I don't know." The heat was making her short tempered.

Then she had an idea. "We could ask each other questions and the person has to answer, no matter what." Asking Fuu questions she had to answer sounded fun, but the flip side was she'd probably ask all sorts of questions he didn't want to (or couldn't) answer. "Sounds dumb." "Oh come on. Please?" Fuck! That look she gave him of hopeful optimism made him want to agree to anything even though he didn't want to agree to this. _Dumb broad._

"Fuck, fine. You start then." Fuu grinned and then thought. "Why didn't you want to have kids?" Was she kidding? "Seriously Fuu? Me and kids don't mix. Period. They are messy, smelly, loud, annoying, and prone to an early grave if they hang around me." Fuu nodded at this. It's what she had thought. "My turn: When did you stop loving Jin?" She gaped at him in surprise. "I didn't…" "Don't bullshit me. Answer the question. You have to, right?" He smirked. She sighed. "I'm not sure. I think I realised it after he rescued Shino from the brothel. Then I knew he wouldn't ever love me like that." Hearing her talk about having been in love with someone else before him annoyed him, though he remembered being more annoyed about it back then. "When did you first start loving me?" She asked. First love her huh? Hmm. He knew she'd ask him hard questions. He thought about this. "I think… it was in episode two- I mean- when you passed out from one drink and slept, and Jin had to cart you back to the hut were staying at. You looked…I dunno…peaceful." "Jeez, when that bimbo poisoned you? Why the hell did you go with her then?" "I was horny, what do you expect." "You could have woke me. Told me." "No. I didn't even know until a lot later. I'm not even sure it was then. Okay? And what, you wanted me to be your main squeeze? You weren't exactly into that kind of thing… 'Till recently." He smirked. "And you had a thing for Jin, not me." Frowning, he rubbed the stubble on his chin. He didn't want to keep talking about it. "Now you've had two questions, so I get to ask you two." "Geez. …Fine." She leaned back against the tree, fanning herself as she waited for his questions. He thought. "If those thugs of the government hadn't burned down that old broad's house, would you have really stayed in that town forever?" "Yeah, probably." Fuu shrugged. "Why?" He watched her. "Um…well, Mrs. Aino was like a grandmother to me. And she said that she was leaving the house to me when she…died." She looked down sadly and muttered "Not like any of that matters anymore." Mugen pulled her to him. Despite the fact that he radiated body heat and was sweating which made it a bit hard to breathe with the heat of the day added to that, she leaned against him for comfort. He didn't want to make her any promises he wasn't sure he could keep, but he wished he could promise her that they'd find the person who pulled the strings on the assassination attempt and kill him. It pissed him off whenever she got sad like that.

Sometime later, Fuu felt him shaking her. She had fallen asleep. The sun was no longer blazing in the sky. "Time to go." He told her as he helped her to her feet. She nodded and followed after him, still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"I would give anything for a bath." Fuu groaned as she walked. It was three weeks later, and they hadn't run into any towns or villages in that whole time. Mugen figured they had to be close to their destination. He wasn't particularly good with directions; he normally went wherever he felt like it and Kami be damned. But he figured they couldn't be going the wrong way because he had followed the same road the whole time. "Next puddle or river or whatever, I'm dunking you in." He grumbled. She had been whining about baths all week. "Fine with me." She retorted with a small grin.

A few hours later Mugen heard a low burbling sound. 'Probably a river.' He thought. Then he grinned, recalling their earlier conversation. He picked Fuu up and ran down the road, laughing as she squealing in indignation and surprise of the sudden action. Soon they reached the river through the trees to the right of the road. It was hidden from the road by the trees and foliage. It flowed into a small pool and out, off to the west. Kicking off his geta he walked right into the water until it was up to his waist. Realising what he was about to do, she struggled. "No!…Mugen! You J-" He dumped her in. She came up, spluttering and coughing. "What? You wanted a bath. You got one. Aren't you happy now?" He feigned innocence, but couldn't help but grin broadly at her expression of anger. "You bastard! I'll get you for that!" She slogged through the water towards him, but he easily dodged her and headed more towards the center of the pool. She nearly lost a shoe as she turned, so she stopped to take them off and flung them towards the edge of the pool. They barely cleared the water.

She made her way towards him, but he didn't try to escape her. "Come on then porky. Don't worry if you can't swim; you'll surely float." He taunted jovially. "Erg! I'm pregnant! Not fat! Just because I started showing does _not_ mean I'm fat!" "Same difference." She punched him. "No its not! Anyway, you can't even see a difference with my kimono on." "Pity. We could change that." He gripped her wrist and hovered over her in her personal space, leering. "Seriously? You insult me, and then think I want to make love to you?" She pretended he wasn't turning her on. Barely. "Maybe you do." He kissed her wrist on the pulse point and then licked it, his lips still on her wrist. She shivered. "Maybe I don't!" She yanked her hand away. Smirking, Mugen pulled off his haori and shirt. Balling them up, he flung them towards the shore, where they landed with a wet thump next to her shoes. He raised an eyebrow. "You sure?" He gripped the edges of his shorts at both hips and tugged them down a little. Fuu turned beet red. He could feel her body give of more heat at this distance. If she wasn't turned on, then Mugen had never been in jail. "That's not fair." She murmured, staring at his hard body. Grinning triumphantly, Mugen moved even closer to her and nuzzled her neck with his nose before kissing her where her neck met her shoulder. "What's fair got to do with it?" He breathed against her skin, feeling her shiver. He loved how responsive she was.

Kissing her collar bone, he brought up his hands to skim her ribcage next to her breasts, and then let them rove down underneath them, never touching them. Fuu felt her nipples harden and sucked in a breath. Unable to hold back anymore, just wanting to touch him, she laid her hands on the taught muscles of his stomach. She swept them upwards, fanning them over his chest, brushing his nipples. She felt his muscles contract at the movement as he hissed. Mugen felt himself swell significantly, and all pretense of restraint fell away. He grabbed he breasts and squeezed, then kissed her hard as he frantically tried to undo the bindings on her clothes. Fuu moaned into his kiss and slid her hands down below his belly button, sliding them slightly past his pants, like she couldn't decide if she wanted to slide them off or touch him. His eyes bulged as he felt himself engorge even more. If he didn't fuck her soon he was going to scream with the pressure. Finally her clothing fell away and he had managed to kick his way out of his shorts. "Please." Fuu moaned. He didn't need to be told twice. He rammed into her as hard as he could. Instead of relieving some of the pressure, it just intensified it. Fairly mad with need, he thrust into her repeatedly, her moaning adding to the mounting tension. He felt her squeeze down on him harder with every thrust. Finally, she squeezed down so hard he felt himself pop. With a loud groan, he came long and hard into her, his eyes rolling so the whites showed, not noticing that she was also cumming hard, quivering and shuddering with him.

When it was over, he carried her to the shore, knowing she'd need to rest a bit. Sure enough, the moment he deposited her on the grass, she lay back slowly to rest, her feet dangling into the water a bit. He sat next to her. "Wanna go again?" Still breathing heavily, she glanced at him. "Give me a minute. Geez. You're so insatiable." He grinned. "Damn straight. Good thing you can't get pregnant again at the moment, or we'd almost have a litter of kids in two minutes." He leaned over her and started to stroke her side. "You know I need to rest. Stop teasing me." "But it's fun." He whispered in her ear.

Suddenly he froze, and his demeanor changed from playful lust to serious attention in a flash. He looked around and seemed to be listening for something.

"Fuu, put your clothes on. Now." He growled lowly. In a flash he was up and throwing on his shorts, slipping on his geta and had his unsheathed sword in his hand. "Mugen?" "Put on your clothes. _Now_. And hide." He repeated, his eyes flashed like he was angry about something. Jumping up she hastily fumbled with her clothing and shoes.

"That was quite a show." A low male voice said, coming out of the trees behind Fuu. She whirled around and saw herself face to face with the owner of that voice.

* * *

My comp is working again, but I know it won't last. I really have to get a new one, but I can't atm. Also I'm moving in November. This means I'll be busy packing/ prepping on top of everything else. But I'm currently working on chapter 15, so don't worry; I'm still writing this thing! I'll try to post the 14th chapter by mid October latest. Thanks for reading!

Please rate and review. :)


	14. Chapter 14: The river of blood

**Chapter 14**

* * *

The man was older, with grey-white hair in the neat up-do of a samurai. He also wore a navy hoari and grey hakama, with shoes like Jin's on his feet and a long and short sword at his belt, if anyone doubted he was a samurai. He seemed very vaguely familiar to Fuu but, for the life of her, she couldn't place where she'd see him before if she had.

While he was not a bandit, or any other clear threat, Fuu couldn't help but feel there was something dangerous about this man. She backed away from him.

"Who are you?" Mugen snarled at him. "What do you want?" The man looked calmly at Mugen's raised sword. "Who I am is of no consequence. But I am here to test your skill." He smiled slightly at Mugen, his grey eyes devoid of emotion. Mugen stared back at him for a moment. "Then bring it on." He smirked, his eyes cold. "Very well." The unknown samurai unsheathed his sword and took a waiting stance with his sword held next to his hips.

Mugen ran at him and as he sliced downward, as the samurai brought up his sword swiftly in a ringing clash of steel on steel. Mugen flipped over him and swung again, but the man turn so quickly he blocked the strike. Jumping away backwards, the samurai smiled again. "Not bad. Unorthodox, as I've heard, but you're quite a good swordsman." Before Mugen could respond, the man was looking around the clearing. "Oh dear. We seem to have company."

Sure enough, ragged, unkempt men had emerged from the surrounding woods, to surround them, the steel of their unsheathed swords gleaming in the sunlight. Fuu tried to hide behind a tree as they converged on the two swordsmen in the water, grinning with cracked or rotted teeth as they advanced. Although she was worried, she felt the bandits were probably no match for Mugen. It was the samurai who worried her. While he had proven himself equal to Jin, and could handle most swordsmen, she knew full well there had been some men out of Mugen's league. She hoped this man didn't fall into that rank.

She looked around for a tree to climb; knowing it was a bad idea for a pregnant woman to attempt, but she felt it would be safer for her and she could watch the fight easier from there.

"Hi." A rough voice said as she turned. A towering bandit inched towards her, leering. Backing up, she turned to run, and ran straight into another large torso. Rubbing her nose, she backed up only to be grabbed by the first bandit. The one she ran into had a mean look on his face and a long scar running vertical from his right cheek past his temple into his hairline. Fuu struggled against her captor, knowing he was much too strong for her. "Feisty in'she?" He captor growled amusedly. "Sure is. She's been knocked up. I bet she's a cat in the sack." The scarred one leered, holding relaxedly onto the ends of his sheathed katana, which rested across his broad shoulders. Fuu paled even though she knew this was what was coming; it always was. The scarred bandit reached out to touch her face and she tried to bite his fingers but missed as he yanked them away in time. "See? I told 'ja." He guffawed. She looked over to where Mugen was battling both the bandits and the samurai, who also was battling the bandits in a whirl of steel, but he hadn't seen her plight. She opened her mouth to yell, but her captor wrenched her arms with one hand so tight that her eyes watered, and used his now spare hand to cover he mouth. "Bad girl. Not like it matters; yer man's too busy with our boys, but we'd like to take our time with you." The scarred bandit patted her cheek, grinning as she tried to move her head away in protest. Then his hands were roving down her sides to the bottom hem of her kimono.

She kicked out at him and her foot hit him squarely in the balls. Doubling up, he screamed in rage and pain, clutching his crotch. "Motherfucking bitch!" She felt a hard slap hit the side of her face so hard that her ear was ringing and she was disoriented. "Tha's just messed up. We'll haf to punish you." Her captor growled in her ear. He slapped her again and dropped her. She fell to the ground dizzily, trying to figure out which way was up. She knew she was in trouble, and Mugen was too busy to get to her. She did the only thing she could and curled into a ball to protect her stomach. Just as the world was righting itself again and she started to push herself up, she felt an agonizing pain and screamed as the bandit she'd kicked punched her in the stomach. She could tell something was severely wrong. It felt like something ripped inside her when he hit her. She cried out in pain. "You _bitch_! You're going to fucking regret that before you die!" He kept punching her face, stomach, any part of her she could reach. She tried to push him off, or to block his punches despite the numbing pain, but the more she tried and the more she cried out in pain, the harder he hit her. She felt his fist snap her arm. She couldn't see; the pain was so intense that her eyes rolled back in her head. She was losing consciousness and could no longer tell what was happening around her, and couldn't even feel the blows raining down on her any more as darkness fell over her.

In the heat of battle Mugen heard her scream. _Of course_ the dumb broad would get in trouble; she always did. He fought his way out of the circle of the few bandits left alive, realizing that the unknown samurai had vanished, and rushed over to where he heard the screams come from. He expected to see her bound or being teased by some bandits, but he stopped short for a fraction of a second as he saw one beating her as she lay unconscious with blood pooling around her legs.

Mugen saw red. Her tormentors were dead before they realized he was there. Their fellows converged on him and he sliced his way through them, like a wind of furious death.

Then he flicked his sword to rid it of blood and sheathed it, his face as cold as stone as he turned to the unconscious girl. He checked her for signs of breathing with intense eyes and then, having a good guess as to the cause of her bleeding, lifted up the hem of her kimono. Seeing the squelchy mass of what used to be his unborn child laying there, his face took on a strange grey shade, but only his eyes betrayed the intensification of his rage. He unflinchingly and gently took the mass and wrapped it gently in a strip of his shirt he ripped, then laid the bundle on Fuu's stomach and picked her up carefully. He walked back to the road, debating whether he could make it anywhere in time if he ran. Deciding he had no choice, he ran down the road in the direction they had been heading, knowing the opposite way had yielded no towns for weeks.

After an hour on the road it began to rain, obscuring his vision as the mud sucked at his geta. Mugen knew he was running out of time. "I don't know if you exist, and you are probably out to get me if you do, but damn it kami; you had better not let her die! You already killed our kid, and you can kill me if you want, but she's not like me! She's innocent! She doesn't deserve to die now! If you take her I'll find you and kill you myself!" He muttered angrily and desperately out loud. If he wasn't already too late, then he had better find a healer soon, or it would be.

He ran for about fifteen more minutes in the rain, thinking of his appeal to kami as useless and silly, when he saw a light bobbing and drawing nearer in the dark rain ahead. Something clenched at the hard stone inside him. He ran up to the light, which turned out to be a man driving a cart, with a wood awning over his seat to protect him from the worst of the rain. He pulled the horse to a stop as he drove next to them. "She's hurt. We need to get to the nearest doctor or healer _now_!" He told the man agitatedly. "Oh! She's bleeding! Let me just turn around. I'm the doctor in the town you're heading for, but she needs to get out of the rain. There is a dojo not far from here!" He said over the sound of the rain. A dojo….When Mugen nodded and got out of the way, the man turned the cart around. Then Mugen swung up easily next to the man, careful not to tip the remains of the fetus off of her. As they rode off, the man who claimed to be a doctor asked him questions. "Was she pregnant?" "Yes. She was beaten by bandits." Mugen said cautiously. "She miscarried. That is bad. How long have you been carrying her?" "An hour or two." The man looked grim but didn't reply. "Can you help her or not?" He asked. The man pulled the cart to a stop. "I don't know. But we're at the dojo, so let me try." He told Mugen honestly. They climbed down and the man tethered his horse to a post at the foot of some stairs.

When they reached the top of the stairs it was clear something was wrong. The square building in the clearing ahead, though whole, had its doors knocked down and windows broken. "What has happened!" The doctor took in the scene with a look of dismay and a touch of fear. Mugen looked around but could not see or sense whoever might have done this, but he knew better than to walk into a building that looked like some people had forced their way into it. "Hold her. I'll check it out." He carefully transferred Fuu's unconscious body into the doctor's arms. "Don't lose that." He glared at the doctor, who eyed the package, probably guessing its contents.

Mugen moved swiftly through the building, noting the large bloodstain on the floor of the dojo, the slashed rice paper walls, broken wood and toppled furniture. When he crossed into the back room, which was a kitchen on one side and looked like it had been a bedroom on the other side until something had smashed that corner in, he almost had exited the back door before noticing patterned cloth in the rubble. He cleared away the smashed wood to reveal an unconscious girl. She was younger than Fuu, but not quite a child either. She seemed to be breathing, but she had a nasty gash on her shoulder. The broad would bitch at him when she woke if he left the chick as she was. Sighing in annoyance, he sheathed his sword and picked her up. Bringing her into the dojo's main room where the doctor had already laid Fuu down on a mat and was checking her over, Mugen laid the girl down on the floor in the middle of the dojo.

"Can you _cure_ her?" "Go boil some water and find clean cloth instead of distracting me! She's bleeding too heavily, can't you see that!" The doctor snapped at him impatiently. In any other circumstance Mugen would have told him where to stick it and beat the shit out of him, but instead he grumbled and walked away, both annoyed and worried. He went out the kitchen door and found a wood pile, with the wood sticks all knocked about the area. He gathered some, and then bent to the task of trying to start a fire in the kitchen's fire pit, trying not to think or feel, to just keep moving. Once it was blazing nicely, he found a bucket and went outside to what he thought was a well. It was. After drawing the water and setting it over the fire, he looked for the cloth the doctor had asked for. He didn't know much about this shit, but it was clear that the doctor was worried. He didn't want to think about it, but the images of Fuu getting beat up, and the bloody mess that was his dead kid kept flashing in his mind insistently as he handed the doctor the linens he'd found in a cupboard.

He wanted to sit by her, but he also knew doing so would be useless. If he wanted to try to save her he could only help the doctor. This was one way his sword skills would solve nothing. He went back to check on the water. "Waters done. What do I do with it?" he called. "Bring it and a cup to me." Mugen fished around for a cup and then also took a fat cloth thing he'd seen Fuu use at Mrs. Anno's house which she's set hot pots on to keep the table from burning.

He set the cloth thing down and put the water kettle on it. Fuu was very pale by now. Mugen watched as the doctor mixed some herbs and hot water in the cup. "Tilt her head. _Gently_." He tipped the mixture down Fuu's throat a little at a time to keep her from choking. When he was done, the doctor put some strips of the linen he'd ripped apart into the water and took them out, wringing the excess water from them. "Don't that burn?" Mugen quirked his eyebrow up. The doctor shrugged and leaned down between Fuu's legs. Turning around quickly, Mugen frowned, not wanting to see any man, not even a doctor who'd probably seen enough of women to not care, peeking between Fuu's legs. It made him mad. He resisted the urge to punch the man again, knowing whatever he was doing was the only thing that might save her.

Looking over, he realized he hadn't even thought of the girl he'd found in the wreckage until now. 'Dumb broad would throw a fit if I don't check on that other chick.' He thought and felt for her breath to see if she was still alive. "Yep. Alive." He muttered. He was no doc. Fuu always was the one to patch him up. He usually never bothered with doctoring himself after fights. He'd leave this chick to the doc, once he was finished with Fuu. She wasn't his lookout.

He scowled. Getting up, he took the wrapped up dead fetus and went outside into the night. He picked a spot at random next to the building, set down the package and began digging furiously. When he'd made a hole big enough, he knelt down and set the package gently inside it. "You're probably in a better place right now." He muttered angrily, not really aware he was speaking. "You're half Fuu's, so you've got half a chance of that." He shrugged, and touched the package lightly, feeling a connection with this dead kid. A piece of him had died long ago. It made perfect sense to bury it. "If you see yer mom coming, send her back, 'k?" He looked at the package for a bit, and then began to slowly cover it with dirt. He found a medium sized stone and placed it over the spot.

When he walked back inside he found the doctor washing his blood stained hands and drying them on a piece of linen. "She seems to have stopped bleeding, but she's lost too much. I don't know if she'll live or not, but we'll find out by morning." He gave Mugen a sympathetic look. "Whatever." The doctor ignored this. "I've got to get some sleep, but I'll come back to check on her in the morning. Meanwhile, give her a cup of the tea about every hour until she wakes…or doesn't." He said bluntly. "Mix a pinch of this in the cup and stir it before you give it to her." He handed Mugen a pouch of herbs. "And _her_?" Mugen nodded at the girl he'd found in the rubble. "Goodness. Did you find her here?" He felt her pulse and checked for abrasions and broken bones, not seeming to expect an answer. "Just the cut and some scratches, except for that bump on her head. She's just been knocked out." He swiftly cleaned out the girl's shoulder gash and bandaged it. "This one will probably be fine, but make sure to ask her questions when she wakes; like her name and other simple things she should know. If she doesn't seem confused or disoriented she can go home or wherever she likes." Mugen shrugged.

The doctor left him there with two unconscious women, but one was forgotten in a moment. Mugen knelt down by Fuu. "You're such a dumb broad." He muttered, watching her disturbingly pale face in the lamp light. Almost hesitantly, he reached out to stoke her cheek, but withdrew the minute his fingertips touched her almost icy skin. Something in him drew taut and threatened to snap. "You _are_ dead, aren't you?" He spoke in a monotone, more to himself. "It's just as well." He muttered, feeling something strong well up in him. Something he recognized, but had never felt it this strongly; this raw. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

Then he got up and numbly tossed out the bloodstained water, refilled the pot and set it to heat over the fire. Taking the bloody rags, he tossed them in the fire. When the water had boiled, he poured some into the cup and mixed in a pinch of the doctor's herb. "Here's yer drink." He fed it to her carefully, the way the doctor had. He didn't look at her. Dead bodies didn't bother him, but hers did for some reason. That wasn't the Fuu who argued with him, ate like a starved glutton and made him feel…peaceful; ironically. Laying her back down, he felt a strange cold fire burning through him, different from the fierce burning of anger he'd have normally recognized. Everything was detached as if he was watching himself do what he was doing. Nothing was real.

As he placed the cup next to Fuu he had the distant feeling that he was crazy. 'Not so bad.' But as he thought it, he frowned. Part of him was screaming. He looked down at her again. Then he got up and walked into the yard. His eyes flicked instinctively to the grave he'd dug. He felt a blinding rage well up. It was safer than the other thing he felt. He grasped at its comforting familiarity. Picking up an axe next to the wood pile, he swung it with every emotion he felt at a large tree, as if the tree had caused all of this. The axe stuck so hard he had to strain to pull it free. "Mother fucker!" He snarled as he swung again. He swung again and again, as chips flew out with every blow, but he kept silently swinging at it, his eyes wide and tense, until his arms were burning with the effort. Breathing heavily, he leaned on the axes handle. Again he saw Fuu pale and unmoving. Again he saw the fetus that never had a chance to be more than that. Eyes blazing, he swung at the tree again; once, twice… On the third time he lowered his arms and dropped the axe, his arms screaming in protest. He sat down on the ground, breathing hard.

Once he had his breath back he remembered something. "Shit." He got up and walked back in to the kitchen. Seeing that the fire was still burning and the water was still hot, he refilled the cup, mixed in the herb, and walked back towards Fuu.

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Hi, I know i said I'd update bi-monthly, but its been so crazy up till now. My life is snowballing (both a good and a tiring thing). But I have 2 more chapters already typed, so to make up for the late chapter post, I'm posting the next chapter also. Enjoy. I will post monthly from now on so I have less pressure with deadlines.

**Hakama**: Samurai pants. Loose and baggy.

_Note_: Those who have seen the show have seen the samurai I mention here that Mugen fights. But that's the closest to a spoiler/hint I'll give.


	15. Chapter 15: Recovery

**Chapter 15**

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The doctor saw the hacked up tree in the yard, and the tense, wild look of the young man from last night as he entered the dojo that morning. He jumped as the young man screamed "Wake up, you dumb bitch!"

"Have you slept at all?" He asked the young man. "Why? You told me to feed her that tea every hour." The young man had a wild look about him, like he was half crazed and pent up. "She's dead, so you know." Mugen informed him as if the revelation was nothing more than a comment on the weather. "What? How do you know?" "She's been icy cold all night." "Then _why_ have you been feeding her the herb tea all night?" Then the doctor had a flash of inspiration. "You hoped your wife would live if you did it." Mugen frowned. "No. I just did it. Nothing better to do." He muttered. "Better than laying her next to the kid."

The doctor knelt down next to Fuu and place a hand over her mouth, and then felt for a pulse. "I'm sorry. But it seems you'll have too. She's already starting to get stiff."

At this, Mugen's eyes flashed. He gripped the collar of her kimono near her unnaturally pale neck and shook her body once. "I'm sick of yer shit! You dumb pain in the ass! Don't you take off on me! You just always have to mess with me! Why the fuck do you always do that? Get your ass back here, or I'll make you regret it when I get there!" He shook her again for emphasis. The doctor made to put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy. "Touch me and I'll cut off your hand." He growled at the doctor, glaring.

The doctor put up his hands in a gesture of surrender and walked away to give him some privacy. He'd seen many men's reactions to the death of a loved one. Some raged, some cried, some held it in and acted like nothing had happened, according to his nature. He knew better than to stand in the way of a man and his grief, whatever form it took. Only time could heal it.

Mugen had finally laid Fuu back down, and was just sitting and staring at her. He would never see her alive again. She wouldn't nag or argue with him, or fuck him. Or hold him. He wondered why this bothered him so much. He never had anything. Surely having nothing again would be easy? He felt like someone was squeezing on his heart and lungs so hard it hurt and it was hard to breathe. He'd seen death and worse and doled it out himself. He'd seen a thousand stiff corpses, many much more torn up than her. But hers was the only one he'd seen that made him want to run or scream till he couldn't anymore. He didn't know why.

No; he did. He just didn't want to know. This was the problem with wanting something. With needing something. Someone. He should have known, like every other short lived good thing in his life; it would be taken away from him. He should never have kissed her. He should have pretended he didn't want her. He should have left her in her quiet life with the old broad. She would still be alive. He swept a strand of hair out of her unnaturally still face. Then he turned away, intending to get up and go dig her grave, needing desperately to move. He was not going to cry. He was _not_ going to cry. Tears were always dangerous.

Mugen twitched when he suddenly heard a short and ragged intake of air behind him. Turning around, he saw it came from Fuu. Her eyes were closed, but she seemed to be struggling to drag enough air into her lungs. "Fuu?" At this, Mugen saw her eyes roll around under the lids, but not open. "Doc!" The man came over. "My name is Teneida Ren. Not Doc." "Whatever! Get over here!" The doctor looked at Fuu. "That's….that's impossible." He murmured and checked her vitals again. "A heartbeat. Kami." He breathed. "Girly. Open your eyes." Mugen commanded quietly. "I'm…. trying." She answered quietly, like she had very little energy to speak. Just then, her eyes opened and she looked up. "Blurry. Mugen?" She mumbled sounding tired. "I'm here." He pulled her into his arms and held her. "You were… calling me. It took so long to walk back. Years I think." "You dumb broad. That was last night." "No. It was forever. And…And…You're trembling!" Her eyes opened wider, straining to see him better. Her vision was returning, but slowly. "I _am not_. Don't be dumb." He looked away. "I… I'm sorry." "You have got to be the stupidest broad _ever_." He told her angrily, before kissing her soundly. She smiled sleepily when they broke apart. "I missed you."

Mugen's back went rigid and he let her down to the floor slowly. "You weren't on some trip. You were _dead_; ice cold and going stiff." He said lowly, a hint of danger in his tone. Fuu was reminded suddenly of his nightmares of the crow men coming to take her away. It was one of the things he seemed to fear most and it had actually happened. She didn't reply; knowing whatever she might say about it could wait. He would not listen now. He was too upset. It was a bit scary how much he was, even if she understood why… in theory. She was still adjusting to the Mugen that cared for her this much. He rubbed a hand through his hair. "Get some rest." He barked, before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Will your husband be alright?" The doctor said, bringing over a comforter. "I hope so." Fuu sighed tiredly before looking over at him. "Who are you?" "I'm the doctor he found for you. I'm Teneida Ren." The man put a pillow under her head to prop it up. "I have to rub you down to bring the circulation back so you don't have problems moving later." He told her. Nodding her permission, he lifted her right leg into his lap and began messaging it bit by bit. "He's not my husband actually. But… that's not his fault. He asked. I just…wasn't ready." She shrugged weakly. This greatly surprised the man. He couldn't imagine a rough man like hers putting up with something like that, especially when she had been carrying his child. If he had been just messing with her then yes, but he had asked for her hand, so he must care for this girl. "And now?" He asked. Fuu looked at the ceiling, wincing a little at the severe pins in needles developing in her body as the feeling returned to them. The doctor switched legs. She nodded, looking away from him.

Then she had a thought. "Where's Rie?" "Who?" "Oh. The… kid." She gestured to her stomach. The doctor pursed his lips. "Outside I think." "She's alive?" Her eyes lit up. "No. I think he buried it." He informed her. Obviously the fetus was too young to survive outside its mother's body, let alone have a gender yet. But he didn't say that. Closing her eyes, Fuu nodded. Then tears began to trickle down her face.

He worked on her left arm. Stillborn births were very common even without a blow to the stomach, but it didn't make it easier for the parents to bear, especially for mothers. "Was….she…your first?" He asked as her worked on her right arm. "Yes." "I'm sorry." Fuu didn't answer but continued to look away, weeping quietly; unable to even move her arms to hide her eyes.

Outside, Mugen sat on the porch, looking at the tiny grave and running his hand through his hair repeatedly.

Feelings swirled in a jumbled mix inside him. He didn't want to make sense of them. There was no point. Not unless he wanted to run off and kill someone, which he couldn't do at the moment. He had to protect Fuu while she recovered. He scowled. He didn't want to think about her right now. His eyes slid to the grave again inadvertently, but he looked away quickly and got up. "Thanks kid." He muttered to the grave without looking at it.

Pacing the yard, he thought. His mind walked over the events of the past two days but quickly returned to the fight in the pool by the road; skipping the part where he found Fuu bleeding like it was a gap that didn't exist.

That samurai. He had said he had come to test Mugen's skill. Mugen bet anything that he was from the shogunate's new stock of assassins. Who else would know who Mugen was to want to test him? Who would come deliberately so far into the wilderness after them for that reason? The bandits were just that; the government didn't hire bandits. They didn't give a damn for using anyone they considered beneath them. A fire was slowly and fiercely smoldering in his veins. He could feel its burn rage through him, simmering just under the surface of his skin. The government would keep hunting them until they had killed them. He had no desire to keep running, to always run, from them. What he was dreaming up as the alternative was insanity; a suicide run. But that didn't matter. Now that he had a final end plan in sight, he felt slightly better. He'd pay those sonofbitches back in spades.

He was sick of being hunted and he was sick of Fuu always being in danger from them. He looked at the tiny grave with fierceness in his eyes. They had taken what was _his_. They would pay dearly for that. Even if it wasn't their thugs who had nearly killed Fuu, it was their plan to. She had _died_ because he had been caught up with their samurai pet and couldn't get to her in time. He'd be damned if he let her die again.

For a short time he was going to be a dad. He hadn't known he'd started to look forward to the idea until he saw the dead fetus and the sight had hit him like a ton of bricks in the face. He shook his head angrily as if trying to shake thoughts from his head.

And even _if_ she could bear children after what had happened, he wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to let _this_ happen again, to either her or any other potential kid. He had _told_ her that the kid dying would most likely happen. He _told_ her. He _should_ have left her alone. He couldn't leave her, but he couldn't be with her. In any sense. He couldn't let himself slip up this time.

"Damn it!" He ran a hand through his hair again. Mugen never had to abstain completely from sex before. He could always go to a brothel, but even as the thought popped into his head he knew he couldn't do it. He found that didn't want to touch anyone but her. Pain in the ass broad! Groaning, he put his head in his hands, trying to force out the images that suddenly came into his mind; the sight of her soft curves unhampered by clothing, the feel of her soft skin under his hands, the feeling of being in her, the look of pure bliss as she climaxed against him…. "Mother fucker." He hissed at his body's intense reaction to this. 'She'll die again if you give in, asshole.' He told himself firmly, trying to think of anything but …that. 'I guess I still got a hand. Eugh.' He got up and walked over to the well. Drawing the rope from it, he dumped the whole bucket of cold water over his head. Not only did this cool down his temper, but it also made his balls shrivel until his erection was barely even a memory.

It was going to be _difficult_, but he was going to keep away from her somehow. Fuck.

Mugen walked back inside and dropped on the wood floor. Having not slept since the night before they were ambushed, more than twenty four hours ago, he was bushed. It felt like a bear had knocked him over several times. Fuu looked over at him, but then turned to the other side of the room at the sound of groaning. Mugen lifted his head a bit to look that way.

The girl he'd pulled out of the wreckage and forgot about rolled over, revealing herself to be the source of the noise. The doctor rushed over to her. "How do you feel miss?" She looked at him in alarm and mistrust, backing up in fear. "I'm a doctor. Doctor Teneida. We took shelter here in the storm last night so I could tend to her." He nodded towards Fuu. The girl looked over at Fuu and Mugen there. "Don't try to kill me in my sleep and I won't kill you." Mugen laid his back down and rolled over, closing his eyes. Within seconds he was snoring. The girl was looking at him in alarm. "Don't worry about him; he's just… like that. He won't hurt you, I promise. I won't let him." Fuu frowned at Mugen's back. The girl sat up. "I'm… Keiko. My father…owned this dojo. Is he your sweetheart?" She gestured at the sleeping Mugen. Fuu nodded, smiling shyly. "I'm F…" "Your father owned this dojo? But then you must be Kashima Keiko! You were so little the last time I saw you. " The doctor interrupted. Keiko looked surprised. "You knew father?" "Well, everyone in Fukui knows _about_ your dad and his dojo, but yes, I knew him. He hasn't called on me since your mom…passed on." Keiko looked sad. Then she started to cry. "They _killed_ him! They killed my father! Right there." She pointed to the place where blood had dried dark on the wood. "What?" "One of my father's friends was visiting from far away. He wanted to learn father's style of sword fighting. They were just talking quietly after dinner and I was making tea when the men burst through the doors. They said that father was housing a wanted criminal and they were there to arrest them both. Father tried to fight them with the help of his friend, but there were too many of them and they…they…killed him." She dissolved into a fit of tears. Fuu wanted to go to comfort her, but she couldn't move her body yet, just her arms. "I'm sorry." She told the girl. "What happened to his friend? Was he captured?" Doctor Teneida asked. Keiko nodded. "This man knocked him out when the others held him and they dragged him away. Father was teaching me his kenjutsu you know, so I went for my sword. But I…I… don't know what happened. It felt like something exploded near me when I got to the stand in my room where I keep it, and then I was waking up just now." The doctor stared at her in horror. "I'm so sorry for your loss. Shin was such a good man." Then he shook his head. "How can the police do that? If your father's friend really was a criminal, surely they should have tried to figure out if your father even knew about that fact first. I know we live in world with corrupt cops and officials, but surely this is going too far! Anyone who knew Kashima Shin knew he was a good man who did more for his community than the local governor has ever done. It's outrageous they'd kill him without even questioning him like this!" "That's what the government and cop types are like. Don't cha know that already? Geez, you people are loud." Mugen said from where he was, his eyes still closed and his back to them. "I wonder what happened to your dad's friend. Was he really even a criminal?" The doctor asked this last to no one. "Probably strung up dead somewhere on display. Now could you guys shut it? I haven't slept for like a day." "If Jin is a criminal, I hope they _did_ kill him. He should never have lead them here. It's his fault this happened! It's his fault father is dead!" Keiko's eyes blazed.

Mugen sat up in a flash at the same moment Fuu said "What?" "She's right. You can't be sure he even was a criminal. Don't blame him without facts." The doctor frowned. "No, it's just that…Keiko, you said 'Jin' right?" Fuu double checked. "Yeah, that's his name. Why?" Fuu and Mugen exchanged glances. "Mugen! …Jin…" Her eyes were wide in surprise and fear. Mugen glared back with a slight nod. "_Mugen_? You're Mugen?" Keiko gaped. She looked at Fuu. "Then you must be Fuu!" "How do you know that?" Mugen growled at her at the same time Fuu exclaimed "Of course! Jin mentioned us, didn't he?" He looked at her, then back at Keiko. "Yeah. He talked about his leaving his friends, Mugen and Fuu, to come here." "Well, where did they take him?" "I was unconscious when they left, wasn't I?" She snapped. At the doctor's disapproving look, she softened slightly. "I'm sorry. But my father is dead, and it looks like they took his body away so I can't even bury him." She began to cry again. Though the doctor looked angry at this, he patted her shoulder.

"That sonofabitch." Mugen muttered, thinking of Jin. Fuu was too preoccupied to even hear him. "Jin was not a criminal! His sword master attacked him under orders of a man working for the shogun and he killed him in self-defense!" Keiko watched Fuu's earnest face for a moment, her eyes still wet. "Why would they do that if he wasn't doing something bad to deserve it?" "His master was convinced or persuaded to change the dojo; to work for the shogun, not to be samurai anymore, but to be assassins. Jin was against this. The man working for the shogun had found that out. He told Jin's master to kill him." ((A.N: does Fuu/Mugen even know this? I know watchers saw this, but I can't get online to see if he told them this stuff or not.)) "But that outrageous!" The doctor's eyes blazed. "Yer so naïve. Did 'ja think we all were going to hold hands and sing 'kumbya' or something? The government does what it wants and _takes_ what it wants and it don't give a fig for you or me. Get used to it!" Mugen frowned at him slightly, annoyed by the man's stupidity. The doctor pursed his lips, but said nothing.

"Are you guys criminals too?" Keiko asked bluntly. "_I_ am. I'm wanted for piracy and other things. What? Did'ja think these blue tattoos were for fun?" He looked over at her and leered. "I'm from the Ryukyu's." Keiko and the doctor looked surprised, and she edged away a little. "Stop trying to freak them out. Geez." "Killjoy." He muttered and closed his eyes again. She smiled at him.

Fuu had noticed that Keiko kept edging away from the men, bit by tiny bit during the conversation, and wondered about that. "Keiko, could you help me sit up?" She asked the slightly younger woman. "Okay." The girl came over and helped her sit up, and then put pillows behind her back. When Keiko was in whispering range Fuu addressed her so quietly, they were the only ones to hear. "Those men didn't just murder your father and knock a wall on you, did they? You wouldn't be so skittish around the doctor and Mugen otherwise. But you don't seem to be skittish around me. They did something to you didn't they? Something…bad." She stated flatly, meaningfully. Keiko mouth quivered a little as she looked into Fuu's eyes. "No. I…I…"Her eyes filled suddenly and she clung to Fuu, bawling her eyes out. "You can't tell anyone!" She sobbed into Fuu's neck, her words muffled by Fuu's kimono. "I'll never be able to get married now. I'm spoiled goods!" "Oh my god! What is with you chicks and crying? Can't a guy get some fucking sleep?" Mugen glared in their direction. "Watch your mouth! She's just had a rough day. So relax! Geez." Fuu glared back. She stroked Keiko's hair soothingly. "Hmh!" Mugen turned over and shut his eyes, annoyed with himself for being jealous of how tenderly she stroked that chick's hair; wishing it was him. But he would never, never admit it.

"I must go now; I have other patients to tend to. Keiko, there seems to be no repercussions from your concussion." The doctor turned to Fuu. "Fuu, you'll have to stay in bed for at least two weeks. I'll visit you daily to see how you're recovering. For today and tomorrow, only eat rice porridge and drink clean water or tea." He pulled out a small leather pouch from his bag and unwrapped it, revealing a cloth tied with a string. After undoing the knot, he removed a small clay container with a cork in it from his bag. Unstoppering it, he poured something dark green and powdery from the cloth into the clay container. Corking it, he laid it in arms reach of Fuu. "Put two pinches of that in your food and drink every meal. It's a powdered herb that may heal your womb, but because of how long it's been since your incident and because you were dead, I'm not certain it will work. I will try to get some of the fresh herb because that is more potent, but even then, it's most likely you won't be able to bear children again. As it is; only time and your body's ability to heal well or not will tell." Seeing her stricken look, he put a hand on hers. "I'm sorry." He said softly. Then he walked out the front door and closed it behind him.

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I just want to say:

I have every intention to see this story to the end (I already know how it ends ^^). But its going to be a long while till its over. So keep reading. ;)

**Kenjutsu: **Umbrella term for Japanese schools ofswordsmanship, in particular those that existed before the Meiji Restoration (aka: the end of the samurai).

_Question_: Was Fuu's revival realistic seeming to you? What other things I've not included/addressed in this story do you think I should? Let me know your thoughts!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and any other December holiday you celebrate that I missed!


	16. Chapter 16: Keiko's departure

**Chapter 16 - Keiko's departure**

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**Warning: **mature subject matter discussed.

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Keiko looked at Fuu with wide eyes, both appalled and awed by the doctor's revelations. "Why…what…What happened that you might not be able to have kids, if you don't mind me asking?" Fuu looked away from her, looking so sad and distraught that Keiko blurted out "Did the same thing that happened to me happen to you?" She shuddered even mentioning it, let alone thinking of it. Fuu didn't look at her. "No. Not quite. While traveling, we were attacked by…bandits. Mugen…he had his hands full fighting them off alone, but he's tough. I was pregnant, and a couple of them tried to force me, but I fought back. I kicked the bandit in his sensitive area, and he got mad. He…hit me…" She shuddered, now that the memory of it came flooding back. "and…he didn't stop till I blacked out. When he hit my stomach, I knew something had gone wrong. I didn't wake up until… a little while ago. I was told that my…our… baby died." Keiko sat in horrified silence for a while before another thought burst from her mouth. "The doctor said you died." Fuu nodded, mutely. "But how are you alive then?" Fuu shrugged. "Kami." She breathed.

Then Keiko remembered something. 'But it can't be helped.' She justified to herself. 'It just can't be helped.' She looked away from this other girl who had also suffered as she had, even if it was in different ways. From what she's seen of the other woman berating her man for his lack of manners not long after…reviving, she wasn't going to let these things stop her from living. Keiko wished she was like that. But…even though they were bonded by both going through trauma, she couldn't think of things like that. She knew she wasn't the same as Fuu. Her… experience had taught her fear, and a desperate need for survival. She was going to survive, not matter the cost.

"I'm sorry." She looked at her hands. "I'm sorry I'm so nosy." Fuu nodded numbly and attempted a small smile. "It's okay Keiko. It's strangely good to tell another female these things." Keiko smiled shyly back at this. "I understand." "I wish… I was able to get up. I want to…to see…my… child." Her eyes shut and she sucked in a breath as her face turned pale. "I'm sorry." She whispered as tears streamed from her closed eyes again. Keiko hugged her, tears in her own eyes, knowing words were useless. What could she say? After a minute, she pulled away. "I'll make you some rice porridge." She got up and went to the kitchen, a little stiffly.

The next morning found Mugen practicing with his sword in the yard as Keiko made them breakfast. When she announced that breakfast was ready, and Mugen had brought over the table to where Fuu was propped up, she set down bowls of food on it. They ate in silence until Keiko put down her chopsticks. She had been thinking about this for some time, and what she'd say. "Guys, I've got to go. I've got relatives in in town. I've got to tell them I'm alright and about what happened." "You're sure it's safe for you, especially since…?"Fuu let the question hang. "Since what?" Mugen sounded bored. "No. Nothing! I'll be fine. I know the way through Fukui like my own home. It's just west and then south from here. Not too far." Seeing Fuu's sceptical look, she hastened to reassure her. "Really. I promise." "Fine. But be careful. I know how dangerous it is for a woman traveling alone." Mugen raised an eyebrow at this. "You guys should feel free to stay here while you're recovering. I don't know what will happen to this place, but I certainly don't want to live here anymore. I _can't_." Her eyes went dark with memory. "I'll take some food from the pantry, but help yourselves to anything in this place not nailed down after I leave." Fuu nodded.

After breakfast, Keiko packed a bag with food and clothing. As she headed to the door, she stopped and stooped to give Fuu a hug. "I'm sorry." She whispered in her ear. Fuu nodded. With one short glance at Mugen, she turned and walked to the door. Turning, she blurted "Protect her." and ran from the dojo without looking back.

Mugen scratched his head. The doctor passed Keiko as she ran down the stairs. "Hello." If she heard she ignored him, and turned the corner onto the street and out of sight. "Watch her. I'll be right back." He told the doctor and ran down the stairs before the man could answer.

He followed the chick on a hunch, not sure why. He kept out of sight when he could, but it hardly mattered. She didn't look back once. He followed her as she turned south and then left Fukui behind. Clearly she had lied about going to her family in south Fukui, but he already knew that by the way she had acted. He stopped short when she passed the sign for the next town over and hid behind a tree. Peering out, he saw her greet a rider on a horse. He snuck as close as he could to see and hear more without attracting notice, but he still couldn't make out what they were talking about.

The man was gesticulating angrily at the way she had come, and she said something frantically in response before the man struck her across the face. He said some more things as she held her face and then he put out his hand. She tentatively took it and climbed up behind him on the horse. Even as the man turned his horse back the way he'd come, Mugen was running back to the dojo. He'd danced with the law enough in his life to recognise official armour when he saw it, with some crest on it. And the horse was no nag either. It was well fed and cared for. So what was little Keiko doing, running to the law almost the minute she woke up, when it was the law that had killed her old man?

Mugen knew trouble when he saw it. He was willing to bet that these were the people who had come for Jin and killed her father. So why was she working for them? It was obvious she had about as much killer instinct as Fuu. Meaning none. She had been spooked by those men who had attacked the dojo.

When he re-entered the dojo, he was met with Fuu's glare. The doctor gave him a look and announced he had to leave for the day. "Where did you go? You were gone for hours!" She voiced the moment the doctor was gone. "Following that chick." "But…why?" Protecting some girl he didn't know was definitely not his m.o. Mugen shrugged, explaining what he'd done and seen. "Why would she be helping the officials who did this?" "She was spooked. Some people do what they think they have to to survive." He sat next to her and leaned back against the wall. "She was raped by them you know." Fuu told him quietly. "I know." Seeing her inquiring look, he elaborated. "I'm from the Ryukyus. Right?" His eyes went dark, but with memory not with anger. "It ain't the first time I've seen this sort of shit. Why're you surprised I could tell?" "I…I don't know. I… guess I forgot with everything." "Nah. You're just not like me. You haven't seen this every day all your life. Yer not used to it. Thank god." He muttered this last so low she had to strain to hear it. Fuu hesitated a moment, knowing the topic of his past was off the maps. "Want to talk about it?" He gave her a look. "Right." She had expected that answer. But it was always worth a shot in case.

"Can I see Rie now?" "Who?" "The…baby." Fuu swallowed a lump and tried to put a bland expression on her face, like it didn't matter if she did or not. "I buried it." Mugen frowned. Her being this this upset bothered him even more than he already was. "I know." She said in a small voice. "You shouldn't be moving around yet." He said in a bored voice, putting his hands behind his head. "I know. I just need to see her." "Fine. Whatever." He barked before picking her up carefully, covers and all and taking her outside. He sat down on the veranda and settled her in his lap. "There. Under that stone." He pointed. Fuu looked at the unmarked grave for a long time. Mugen didn't move an inch. He knew how she felt. She had probably bawled her eyes out enough that she couldn't cry no more. He held her tighter.

Finally she spoke. "We should put her name on the rock." "Why?" Fuu shrugged. "I need to." Mugen nodded mentally, and hoisted her gently from his lap. Setting her down, he got up and drew his sword. He scored his thumb with it as Fuu protested. "It's just a cut. Relax your tits." "Geez, you are so vulgar." He sheathed the sword and brought the stone to where Fuu sat. "That's how you like me, baby." He goaded. "Now you're going to haf to be the one to write, 'cus I still don't write too good." "Gross." Mugen shrugged. "Fine." She moved his thumb to write 'Rie' in his blood on the rock. "Put your last name there too." Mugen told her when she was done. "Why?" He shrugged again. "I don't have one, 'n she's half yours. Maybe she'll fare better wherever she's gone if they know she's yours." Fuu stared at him in surprise. "I thought you don't believe in an afterlife or things like that." Mentally Mugen facepalmed. Yet again he'd blurted out something he'd never have told anyone even under torture, except to her in a random moment like this. "Well, it don't hurt to have your bases covered."

Fuu wrote 'Katsumi' after 'Rie' on the rock, nodding in her mind. That he thought that last bit seemed legit. "She belongs to both of us. She was ours. At least now we can find her again with her grave marked." Mugen didn't respond to that.

He put the rock back on the grave. "Don't tell four-eyes what I said, or I'll kill you." "Oh yeah, that's right! Jin! We have to rescue him!" "We will. But first you gotta get better, right?" "But what if they kill him? You said they most likely had his head on display by now!" "They won't kill him. They will use him as bait to lure us in. Trust me. He's alive. We just have to outsmart them." Fuu was relieved. If only she was well enough that they could go right now.

Mugen had no intention of letting her help rescue Jin after what had happened. He didn't normally believe in mollycoddling anyone, even her, but he was selfish. He wanted to keep her alive. He knew now that he couldn't take it if she died for real after what had happened. But he also knew better than to tell her she couldn't go right now. When the time came, he'd tie her up to keep her from going if he had to.

"Come on, I'll take you inside." "No. I want to stay out here." "You idiot. You'll catch a cold if you stay out here." She shrugged. "Fine! Dumb broad." He brought out another blanket and wrapped her in them. Then he sat next to her with his arms around her. She giggled at his overprotectiveness. It was sweet, despite how uncharacteristic it was.

"You know, there are _other_ ways to get warm…" She teased him. "You're too sick for that." Mugen said roughly. "I guess you're right. Killjoy." She made to kiss him, but he turned his head. "I'm not so bad off you can't kiss me." She told him, a little hurt and confused by his reaction. He shrugged.

For a moment she thought he was worried that if he kissed her it would lead to more which was physically bad for her at the moment, but another thought popped into her mind. "You think you did this to me, don't you? You think that if you hadn't slept with me, and hadn't gotten me pregnant, I wouldn't have died." Mugen eye twitched, but he didn't answer. Why was she always so quick to figure him out?

Tears welled in her eyes. "You're not going to sleep with me again, are you?" Damnit. "No." She put her hand on his cheek. "Why? This was not your fault. It happened. I'm glad it did." He jerked his head from her touch. "You're glad the kid died and you did too? How can you be glad about that? Are you stupid or something?" He got up to leave. She grabbed his wrist to stop him. "I'm glad I _had your child_, even if it died. Even if I did." "I'm not." "How can you say that? I thought you had accepted that I…that _we_… were going to have this kid." "I didn't exactly have a choice." He muttered. "So wait, now it's _my_ fault I got pregnant when you were blaming yourself a second ago? Make up your mind!" "Whatever. Warm yourself!" He stalked off into the house.

Leaning against the inside wall, he blew out his breath. Why did she have to make everything complicated? Of course he didn't blame her. Maybe she was right and 'it just happened', but it was easier if it was his fault. It made more sense. He _had_ wanted the kid in the end. But how could he be okay with her dying? Didn't she understand that?

She always made him feel stupid, like he had to know all the intricacies of his thoughts so he could explain them to her, when he couldn't. When he never had, or had to.

"Mother fucking bitch!" He stalked back outside and picked her up. She squealed in surprise. He put her down inside and slid the door shut. She watched him in surprise as he paced around the room and then walked into the kitchen, slamming the door shut.

Then he slid it open and walked back to where he left her. Sitting down next to her, he spoke softly into her ear. "I _did_ want it. Just not if you had to die for it. Don't make me tell you what you mean to me. _Don't_." He mumbled into her neck. She pulled up his head with a look in her eyes that melted him to his core. _This_ was what was killing him. _This_ is what would undo him. She loved him. And she kept loving him no matter what. No one else ever had. Probably no one else ever would.

Then she kissed him, and he accepted her sweet mouth eagerly. How could he not? But then her hands strayed down his torso to glide under his shirt. "Marry me." She whispered. Mugen jerked away as if he'd been stung, as reality hit him like a bag of bricks to the face with both her touch and words. "No!" "Why not?" She kissed his jawline. Kami, he would stop this. "Because. Nothing's changed. I can't fuck you, or even kiss you anymore. I can't marry you. I don't even want to." He pulled her hands off of him and held them so she would try to touch him again. "But you were the one who wanted to so much before!" "That was before. I was being stupid. I didn't think about the consequences!" "Oh My God Mugen! Since when do you care about the consequences about anything? Yes, I could die. But so could you! I thought we had agreed to take the time we could together because there are no guarantees of how long we will live. So stop thinking it's your fault. The truth is you're just scared. Scared that maybe it _isn't_ your fault. Because then you couldn't use it to justify how bad you supposedly are and why you got your lot in life. Then you could pretend you don't deserve me so you could go back to being alone which is safer. But it's not, Mugen. You need me, so don't pretend otherwise. Yeah, it's going to hard and scary. But that's how it is. I thought you liked things tough and intense." He had never seen Fuu so angry. It was beautiful. It made him want to either fight her with a sword or fuck her till they couldn't anymore.

But her words were like arrows through him, cooling his adrenaline in a second. "Fuck you Fuu. You don't know shit about my past. Don't act like you do." He growled dangerously. "That's because you never talk about it. And your past is your past. Why do you want to let it mess up the future? Why can't you believe that maybe you can have what you want? I may have died, but I was _trying_ to come back to you. I will _always_ try, as long as you need me to." She retorted. Mugen studied her with a strained look she couldn't decipher for a few minutes, then got up without a word and shut himself in the kitchen. He started making them dinner mindlessly. But her words kept popping up in his mind like a shot in the head.

Fuu sighed in frustration. She probably shouldn't have said so much to him, but he was such a mule-head!

For the next few days, things were strained between them as Fuu slowly recovered. They had one-syllable exchanges and only addressed one another when necessary. Mugen spent a lot of his time outdoors; either training with his sword or body, or siting and staring at the tiny grave.

Fuu was still mad at him, but was determined not to let what had happened come between them. She wished he could understand that no matter how frustrating he was or how much he pissed her off, she still wanted him, and only him. It didn't matter that he killed people. She wasn't some innocent maiden who'd faint when he'd give her a dangerous look. There was a lot she still didn't know about him, but she wanted to. She hoped that one day he'd let her in, even if that place would probably be very dark.

His weakness was his libido. Talking wouldn't get through to him right now, not when he was so adamant that he was the bad one. She'd have to seduce him. The thought made her almost laugh out loud right there. Even though she pressed he hands to her mouth, a few giggles escaped. _Her_ seduce _him_? It was possible now that she wasn't a virgin anymore, but it was just funny that their roles were reversed to where he refused to sleep with her and she was going to seduce him 'till he gave in. But she couldn't think of a better plan, so she hoped it would work the way she wanted it to.

She decided to wait till she was fully recovered so he couldn't get away from her. Well, at least not as easily as now. So she kept up their mono-syllabled conversations (if you could call them that), and thought of the things that he would respond to best.

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Sorry guys, I though I had already posted this chapter. I'm writing ch.18 atm. Thank you to all the lovely people who read the story so far!

It was my birthday this past saturday, and I just want to share the irony: It was the 16th of january, 2016, and today I'm posting the 16th chapter o this fic. ^^

I hope everyone had a great holiday season.


	17. Chapter 17: Rescue Plans

**Chapter 17**

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The doctor kept his word and checked on her once a day.

Fuu recovered slowly, her body still bearing the external bruises that marked part of the trauma of her insides. It didn't feel like her body could bear another child from the pain she felt if she bent too quickly or rolled over on her stomach accidentally in the night, which had her biting down on the pillow to keep her screaming muffled. The thought of not having any more children saddened her, but she stood by what she had told Mugen; she was glad she even had one of his. Still, she was grateful to be alive at all. She always had known the perilousness of life here in Edo Japan, but her brush with death had made her more determined to take and do what she wanted while she could. She wanted Mugen.

Fuu felt that he had taken Rie and her own death hard. She understood. Having nothing and no one made you cherish what you had. _Who _you had. Hadn't her mother's death and their journey to find her father taught her that? Hadn't Mrs. Anno's death solidified that fact? Mugen never even had parents. He hadn't even had friends till she and Jin had come into his life. And what little he had was again being taken away from him. Who could blame him for being afraid (but try to hide it of course), and trying to blame himself?

But she had no time for indulging his fears, like she might have tried to do under normal circumstances, if there was such a thing. Life was fleeting, and she wasn't going to wait to die again to make him stop wasting what little life they may have left in ignoring her. Being with him as his woman had given her a kind of power; one that made her want to force her way in past his barriers if she had to. Perhaps a bit of him was rubbing off on her.

As she recovered, she wondered about Jin. Mugen had said he'd still be alive as bait to lure them in. She wondered if Mugen had a plan for rescuing him, or if he was just going to do the usual thing of winging it, head on with his sword wildly flashing.

Finally, she broached the subject with him. "I thought sneaking in and killing everyone was a good idea." Fuu rolled her eyes. "And if they expect that? What if there are too many enemies or they are too skilled, or it's a trap?" "Woah Shogun, slow down for the rest of us." He grinned as she blushed. "Of course it's gonna be a trap. But that's half the fun of it. Besides, I'm itchin' to get my hands on these government thugs. As fer enemies too skilled, I hope they got some. Those assassins were too easy, even with that many." Fuu shut her mouth. She wanted to tell him to be careful and not get killed, but she didn't. He'd probably think she doubted his abilities if she kept mentioning it. But she couldn't help but worry. If there were any fighters as good or better than Sara or Kariya, then even Mugen might not be able to beat them. But she couldn't ask him to just sit on the sidelines any more than she could sit out herself. Besides, it's not like she had any swords skills. Then she had an idea.

"Teach me to use my tanto." "What?" She gave him a look. "No." He refused flatly. "Why not? I'm always getting thrown into danger. Why not teach me to fight? I could protect myself." "Fuck no Fuu. This isn't a game." She put her hands on her hips. "I _know_ that." But he cut her off. "You point a sword at someone, then you'd better kill them, or they have every right to kill you." "I _know_." "I'm not letting you do it. I don't want you killing! No fucking way." He glared at her. "And I ain't increasing the chances of you getting killed. _Again_." "So you don't mind me being defenseless?" Mugen snorted. "Yer hardly defenseless. I pity the freaks who try to mess with you." He turned serious again. "But swords are different. You hit a man, he can hit you back. You swing a sword at him, him and he will do the same. Hitting don't kill. Or at least it takes more than one or two to kill you." "That's why _you_ should teach me. You and Jin are really good. If I can get to your level, how can I easily get hurt?" Mugen was both exasperated and amused by this. He tried to imagine Fuu wielding a sword like him or Jin. It was weird and funny, but also imagining her as a tough broad was kinda hot. …She also had a point about being able to defend herself.

Fuu saw him thoughtfully leer at her and grinned. So he was imagining something dirty about her and what she said? Then he wasn't at all immune to her.

"I ain't really the teaching type, so you know, but I'll think about it." He finally responded. "Thank you!" She kissed his cheek, grinned mischievously and walked slowly outside into the yard, leaving Mugen standing there and blushing a little. 'Mother fucking…' He kept a few fingers at the spot where her lips had graced his skin, hyper aware of the softness of them and the squirming knots that their touch induced in him. "…Fucking messing with me." He muttered, trying to resist the urge to follow her outside, grab her and kiss her. He smacked his cheeks. "Get a grip. Fucking tramp. I'll kill her one of these days." He muttered under his breath.

Fuu looked at Rie's gravestone quietly. On the day she met Mugen and Jin she would never have imagined that she would wind up where she was today. Though the loss of her baby was still strong in her, she could find some measure of peace in this place, knowing Rie would always be here, that she hadn't just disappeared; forgotten on the side of the road or in the trash. The thought that she could return to this dojo and visit the grave comforted her and gave her some strength to continue on with life as normally as possible under the circumstances.

Fuu didn't hate or blame the shogunate for chasing them and causing them trouble. It wasn't fair, but life wasn't fair in general. Their actions were impersonal; they were doing a job which had nothing to do with her, even though she was caught in the crossfire. So to her this circumstance just was. And they just had to deal with it as best they could. She thought that Mugen probably hated authority and could easily blame them and want revenge. As long as he didn't run himself into the ground or get himself killed over it, she could live with that, because that was who he was. That was his nature. She had always admired his fire.

During the days that followed this conversation, they continued to eke out a concrete plan for their rescue attempt, more because Fuu nagged Mugen to make one than because he particularly wanted to make one with her. Fuu reluctantly agreed when Mugen suggested he should scope out the place beforehand so they could see what they were up against. Of course, he kept his plans modified to include her not being anywhere dangerous during the rescue.

So, while she recovered and kept herself moving around the dojo compound to strengthen her limbs and build her endurance back to at least a normal level, he went out to see what he could find out about where Jin was being held and how it was guarded.

He followed the road that Keiko had taken with the official on the horse and found that there was a small prison in the next town Echizen, but the locals he asked said that they hadn't seen a man by Jin's description being brought in. Apparently, ronin or samurai were sent to the local palace's dungeons instead of going to jail. This posed a problem because, as he told Fuu later; prisons were easier to break out of, while palace security was always tighter than a crabs butt. Fuu didn't question how he knew this, even though she couldn't imagine he'd broken into one before. Maybe he'd broken out.

"Breaking into that palace is madness, you know." The voice made Fuu jump and Mugen unsheathe his sword reflexively. It was the doctor, Teneida Ren. Mugen shut his eyes for a moment as one of them twitched. "So what? I guess we're just mad." Mugen kept his sword out and his eyes on the man. "I heard a bit of your plan, but if you think getting in that way will work, you're mistaken. A _doctor _however, could get in without suspicion or much difficulty. Especially since I tend to our lord Mujima myself." "But…you'll lose your practice if you're found out!" Fuu was surprised he wanted to help. But Mugen wasn't so easily convinced. "If he ain't branded a traitor and killed for it. Why?" "I know the risks." Teneida Ren said quietly. "Why help you? Because I can't agree with the officials killing an innocent man without question. There are other doctors in this town, and I've left my practice to my family." "You know they will go after them next if we are caught right?" Mugen sounded bored. "It doesn't matter. I have no young children, and my family agreed to this once they heard what had happened here. In fact, they are secretly spreading word about it across town. I doubt our lord will be thrilled to have a rebellion on his hands." "Better you than me." Mugen scoffed. "But…" "It's okay Ms. Fuu. It's what we want." The doctor smiled at her a bit sadly. "How can we do nothing when this atrocity has happened?" Mugen frowned. 'Idiot.' He had never fought for any specific Cause before, and he was unlikely to start. People who threw their lives away for some ideals that often didn't even change after all the speeches and fights were over, were as thick as you could get. All there was was the 'kill-or-get-killed' law, and how strong you could get by your own power. All that mattered was being the toughest cat out there and doing what you wanted, no matter what anybody said. Unless it was for money, protecting people was dumb, let alone protecting ideas. People who fought to protect ideas and causes were about as slow as rocks. He knew there was no point in telling a rock it was dumb, so he said nothing to the doc about his thoughts on the matter.

It's how he knew he was dumb too, 'cus every time he thought about someone who needed protecting, he thought of Fuu. Something about her being in trouble always made him crazy, and he wanted to slice up anyone trying to manhandle her. How did that whiney broad get to be so important to him? All she ever did in the beginning was bitch about how he and Jin had promised to help her find the sunflower dude whenever she could. He could claim it was her challenging him that got him to keep following her all over the god-forsaken country, but it was something more than that. Maybe it had been her innocence and the fact that she never shied away from telling him off. Or that this little spitfire girl had the guts to try and rescue them, and then succeeded when they were trapped. She had saved his life and that had intrigued him, for all he felt he owed her.

He wanted so badly to kiss her, touch her. But he couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd been having many moments in the week she was recovering where he almost lost it and just threw her down on the futon, but he had managed without so far. But his need was growing, and the temptation of her was also. Her warmth was so much more than just physical. And because of it, being with her was much more addicting than sex with any whore had ever been. Mugen forced his mind back to their conversation with difficulty.

Fuu reluctantly agreed to let the man join in their plans. He was right about a doctor being able to get into the palace, especially a man known in his town for his abilities. "Yer forgetting that that chick," "Keiko." Fuu interrupted. "Whatever." Mugen rolled his eyes. "She probably reported to the cops that you were in our company. What if they expect you to be helping us, or something?" "It's the best plan we have. We have to trust that even if she said something, they won't piece it together like that." "Trust yer _own_ neck. I think I'll go back to the other plan." Mugen retorted. "What, sawing through the sewer grate? You'll be heard, even if you can saw fast enough to not be caught by the patrols." Ren glared, but Mugen just leered back. "Well, I wanted to just hack and slash through. I don't mind taking them all on. But this one," he jerked his thumb at Fuu "insists we do it 'quietly'." He glared at her. She held his gaze without flinching. Finally Mugen looked away from her.

She hid a smile. "I think doctor Teneida's plan is better actually. We could be he assistants or something." Frowning, Mugen shrugged. "Whatever. One plans as good as the other if we're not storming in."

The doctor brought them the same clothing his apprentices wore that showed they were his assistants and tried to teach them some basics about medicine in case it came up that they had to prove that they were who they said. Lord Mujima would probably not look too closely at a couple of apprentices of his, as he had been the lord and his family's doctor for many years. But, as he told them; he couldn't support a lord who had so clearly backed the murder of Kashima Shin. Mugen didn't care about learning medicine or what the man's reasons for joining them were. He used the time in relaxing or completing his own plans. That woman made everything complicated. He usually never wasted time in making a plan; he just did what he wanted, and that had served him fine until now. "Hey, are you listening Mugen?" Fuu's face popped up in his vision suddenly. "Yeah, yeah; a scalpel is a knife used in surgeries. Got it." Frowning, she sat back down. He pretended like her being that close to him hadn't made his blood warm and make him want to kiss her, as it usually did. 'Jeez.'

She was surprised he had heard what the doctor had said. He had looked bored, like he was thinking of something else. She shrugged. As long as he could remember the information enough to parrot it back, things should work out.

Finally doctor Teneida told them he had gotten a message from lord Mujima, who always suffered from some ailment or other. If it wasn't aches and pains from rheumatism, it was a cold, or something worse. He wanted his doctor to present himself at the palace.

So Mugen and Fuu changed into the assistant clothing, as doctor Teneida waited for them outside. Fuu kept 'accidentally' letting Mugen glimpse bits of her as she changed, which she had been doing a lot of lately as it was when they were alone and she'd take off her kimono to sleep in her juban, and he was getting increasingly turned on and frustrated. "Quit it." "Quit what?" Fuu asked innocently. "You know what." Fuu ignored this and made to leave the room they'd used to change in. "Wait." He stopped her. "What?" "Come here." She sighed and walked over to him. "What is…." She squealed in surprise as he picked her up and dumped her down on the floor, then tied her wrists and feet together with cloth strips he had twisted together like rope before she could figure out what had happened. "What the _hell_ are you doing, Mugen?" He grabbed her chin firmly and kissed her. "Shut up for once." He gagged her as he told her, "You can't come this time, sweetheart. You'll be safer here, so just sit tight and wait for us to come back." He gave her one of his devil-may-care smirks and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

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Thanks for reading.

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	18. Chapter 18: Keiko returns

**Chapter 18: Keiko returns**

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**Warning:** Lemons

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Fuu sat there, stunned for a moment. Then it hit her that he was refusing to let her come. "Mugen!" The sound was muffled by the gag. "You _jerk_!" She struggled against her bonds, but they were tied too tightly. She kicked out at the walls, but no one came. She wondered how he'd convince the doctor to leave her there. She would _kill_ him when she saw him again. _If_ she saw him again, a small traitor voice said inside her. She kicked the walls again. Finally she stopped, realizing that this had been his plan all along. What if he meant to just charge in there without the doctor? She concentrated on trying to wiggle out of the rope-like cloth once more.

After an agonizingly long time with little progress to show for her efforts, Fuu sat back against the wall for a break. Just then, the door to the room slid open. "_You!_"

It was Keiko. She was dirty and her clothes were torn. Her bare skin sported bruises that looked recent. Keiko unbound Fuu and removed the gag. "What are _you_ doing here?! Why did you report us to that official?" Keiko sat back on her heels for a minute, not saying anything, or betraying any emotion. Finally she seemed to find her voice. "I was trying to save myself. I thought they'd let me be if I helped them." She said slowly, deadpanned, as if she was in the daze of just waking from a dream. "I know now it was useless. All I can do is… fix…things by helping you now." Fuu noticed the state the younger girl was in. "What happened to you?" She reached out to touch one of the bruises, but Keiko moved away from her hand. "Nothing that matters anymore." She glared at the floor and whispered angrily "Please don't be kind to me, Fuu. I…I… won't be able to help you if you do."

Fuu stared at her in shock. But there wasn't anything she could say or do to change what had happened. She wished that even if she was a swordsman like Jin or Mugen, killing the men who had done this would change things. Because she would learn to use one if that were possible. But the world was like this, and she couldn't fix this with a sword. Killing these men wouldn't get rid of the problem. There would always be other people who did brutal things to each other. As far as she knew, it was just the way things were and she couldn't change them, but it made her mad. Mad that it happened to good people everywhere, and mad she could do seemingly nothing about it.

She followed Keiko out of the room. "Your boyfriend and the doctor got into the palace, but it may be a trap, I don't know. We had better get in and help them." "You can get in unnoticed?" "Yeah. I figured it out while I was there." "Okay. Give me a minute to grab my stuff, and then let's go."

Fuu was as quick as whip since she didn't own much. She put her kimono, juban, tanto and her spare kimono in a bag. She saw that Mugen had taken his clothes which were pretty much all he had besides his sword. She went outside and said a prayer for Rie. Then she followed Keiko to the palace.

Lord Mujima admitted Dr. Teneida and Mugen with no fuss at all. After describing his symptoms, he allowed the doctor to examine him. Bored, Mugen examined the place, starting with the man. He was a huge, whale of a man; pale and doughy with many chins. Two women sat, one on either side of him, and by the snotty looks on their faces, they must be his family, though Mugen couldn't understand how such a disgusting lardass could even father a child, money or no. What woman would put up with that…thing…in bed? Neither his wife or daughter were beauties either, but what little could be said for their looks was marred by the pinched and haughty looks on both their faces. With a man and a father like that, who wouldn't look perpetually unhappy? Lords were all the same; spineless freaks who made others dirty their hands while they sat and enjoyed what they hadn't earned.

The rest of the room was wood and rice paper walls and windows, with tapestries, statues and vases adorning the place. Except for filching the stuff or fighting the armored guards that stood at the room's entrance and to either side of the lord and his family, he could care less for the place but he had promised the brat that he'd follow the plan. So far he had, but he wouldn't be for much longer. His sword was hidden in the front of his long apprentice robe. He'd had to take care not to move carelessly, or its shape would be revealed. The idiots hadn't even searched them when they arrived.

He'd been inching his hand to its hilt while he held some of the doctor's things, looking at the moment like nothing more than a glorified valet. He waited until he was sure he could reach the handle easily and that the doctor finished looking over his patient. Finally the man was done.

"About bloody time. I was dying of boredom. Geez." Everyone turned to him, but Mugen had already whipped out his sword, pulled it from its sheath and restrapped the sheath to his back. "I wish you had waited until the _good_ doctor had given me the remedy." Lord Mujima gave the guards a look. One blew a whistle, and more guards rushed into the room like it was a fire sale. The smug lord looked like he was about to make a speech, but Mugen grinned. "This is more like it!" He wasted no time in killing the two nearest guards, before the rest finally seemed to realize what he did. Then the room was a frenzy of swords flashing, bodies falling, and blood spraying every which way. The ladies screeched and ran from the room, avoiding the carnage as best they could.

Meanwhile Teneida Ren faced lord Mujima with a long and sharp surgery tool. "How did you know?" He asked the man he used to serve loyally. Lord Mujima surprised him by pulling out a hidden dagger from his clothes. "Kashima Keiko. I had my men persuade her to stay in the dojo and wait for the ronin Jin's friends that I was informed usually keep his company, and then report to me what she had learned of them. But what I don't understand is how a reputable and loyal man such as yourself would chose to aid and side with traitors to the shogunate." Doctor Tenaida frowned. "You got your orders from the shogunate?" He whispered to himself. "Why does the shogunate want to kill these people? What crimes have they committed?" He glared at the lord. "You will answer _my_ question, Teneida Ren, or feel my wrath!" Mujima fairly purpled in indignation. "Kashima Shin. You had him murdered in cold blood. And you've allowed his daughter to get caught up in this." The doctor said lowly, angrier than he had been in a long time. "He aided a traitor to the shogunate, and it is well known that children of dissidents become reprobates themselves. And now you've turned traitorous over sentiment? You are a fool." Lord Mujima made as if to lunge at him, but instead turned and fled, leaving two guards who had fought their way to their lord to deal with him. "Coward!" Doctor Teneida hissed.

Mugen was there in a flash and dispatched the guards with ease. "I did my part, but I'm off. That's the last time I save your ass, so try not to get killed." Mugen smirked. Ren nodded. "Thank you Mugen. I will not forget it." He fled through one of the side doors. He would have his hands full leading his rebellion, but that was none of Mugen's concern. The vagrant wiped his blade on a dead guard's clothes, but didn't bother resheathing it as he left the room. The doctor had drawn a map of what he had known of the palace, but he'd never seen the dungeons. This didn't bother Mugen, as dungeons were not exactly gilded in gold and had a tendency to be underground.

Mugen walked as if he was on a stroll, testing doors and killing those that grabbed weapons and stood in his path, ignoring everyone else from screaming ladies, to servants who moved out of his way. These were not worth his time.

Finally he sighed and scratched his head. He was lost and he hadn't found the dungeons yet. He grabbed a servant and pressed his blade to the man's throat. "Where's the dungeons?" He growled menacingly at the man. The man babbled incoherently before muttering "That way." And pointed. "Take me. If you double cross me I'll kill you." He said calmly and grinned at the servant. The man was all nods and then rushed off once released, Mugen following his like a hunter following his sent hound on a hunt.

At last he reached a set of plain doors. Mugen opened them upon a stone stair heading downwards. "Good work Jeeves." Mugen told the man before turning and descending into the dungeons.

Meanwhile, Fuu and Keiko were at the castle, up to their necks in water as Keiko removed a pipe that blocked the entrance to the castle sewers. They had use hollow reeds as breathing tubes while they had walked under water from under a bridge up the canal a ways, walked slowly and kept close to the stone walls that edged the moat around the castle. Keiko had led them to the sewer opening, which was mercifully shaded from view by a rock overhang.

Once the bar was placed to the side, Keiko climbed into the sewer and helped Fuu once she was in. Then she replaced the pipe and proceeded to crawl on her hands and knees in that smaller space. The tunnel went on and on for what seemed like forever, with only two turns to break its monotony.

Finally Keiko stopped. Fuu almost bumped into her. The dojo owner's daughter sat up on her legs and pushed at a grate above her. Fuu moved to help her, and soon it was free of its bed. Keiko stood up and climbed out of the hole into the room above, then helped Fuu who was surprised to find the room empty. It looked like a public bath, but it was dusty and smelled of mold. She wanted to ask Keiko about the place, but she also didn't want to risk anyone hear her and catch them, so she stayed silent. They put back the grate and walked to the room's only entrance.

Keiko led her out of there and into a deserted stone passage with plain wood doors in the walls at even intervals. In the middle of the passage, a stone staircase rose to the right of the corridor and another stair descended on the left. They heard a door open suddenly from above. Keiko calmly opened one of the doors and gestured for her to get in. She shut it except for a sliver of light from the corridor once Fuu was in and leaned against the door, listening as Fuu looked at the small room. There was a hard wood bed on the far side from the door, but that was it. There were no windows in this room. She wondered who in the place had slept here.

Keiko signaled her to come as she eased open the door. There were guards at the other end of the corridor with their backs to them, walking away slowly as if it were routine. She pointed at the lower stair, and then pushed Fuu. Fuu nodded and crept to the lower stair looking cautiously to make sure no one was coming up. She stayed there to wait for Keiko, but the girl crept to the upper stair instead and pointed to Fuu then to the stairs. Then she pointed to herself and the upstairs. Fuu nodded reluctantly. Keiko smiled and quickly climbed the stairs out of sight.

Fuu climbed cautiously down the stairs, watching out for guards, but she met no one. The corridor at the bottom of the stairs was long and wide enough for two people to walk comfortably side by side. It looked empty. The barred-in square room on either side showed her that she had reached the dungeon. Jin! She looked into each one cautiously, but most were empty with their doors slightly ajar. One had a black looking lump at the back that didn't move or respond to her footsteps. "Jin?" She asked. The shape didn't move. Maybe it was just a pile of dark clothing. She moved on, but as she was passing the next cell, she heard voices at the far side and saw the door start to open.

Panicking, she entered the nearest open cell and walked to the far wall to hide in the shadows where the corridors torch light could not reach, hoping she wouldn't stumble over a dead rat or something else nasty. She prayed whoever it was wouldn't see her there.

Then she heard a familiar voice. "So which one is it? I ain't got all day." The person walked into her view. "Mugen?" She inadvertently stepped towards him, happy to see him in once piece, but still surprised they ran into each other like this. She barely looked at the guard he had walking in front of him at sword point. "Fuu?" He stepped towards her. Then the guard shoved Mugen in with one hand and shut the door with the other, locking it. "Son of a bitch!" Mugen whirled around and grabbed the bars. "You dirty fucking cheater! Fight me fair and square, you piece of shit!" The guard just gloated and walked away. "I'll kill you when I get out of here!" He yelled after the man. "Our lord will toss us your woman for our pleasure and make you watch before he kills you." the man called back. Then they heard the doors to the dungeon slam shut.

Mugen swore profusely and shook the bars, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Over my dead body." He muttered. Then he abruptly turned around. "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay put." Fuu put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, and you tied me up and locked me in a closet, you jerk!" She walked over to him and punched his shoulder. He rubbed it reflexively, not really paying attention to it. He looked at half in exasperation and half in amusement. "How did you get loose and into the palace all alone anyway?" "I didn't. Keiko helped me." "What? Fuu, that chick probably just led you in here so you could get caught! Yer so naive." He frowned at her. "She said she was just trying to protect herself, but she learned it didn't help. She said she was trying to fix what she'd done." Mugen kept frowning, but didn't contradict her. Instead he shrugged. "So what happened?" Fuu told him about Keiko cutting her bonds and leading her through the moat and sewer and how they evaded the guards.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected her to do anything like that. But then; after using fireworks to bust him and Jin loose when they were going to be executed in her town, he shouldn't be surprised. It's just that he forgot she could be badass sometimes. She was like a bloody ninja. It was _hot_. He stepped up close to her into her personal space.

He swept a stray hair out of her face and leaned in to kiss her, long and sweet. God, she tasted good.

Fuu didn't remind him of his vow not to touch her again. Why should she? She also didn't care that they were in some dirty dungeon with no promises of getting free and having a tomorrow. She only cared that she had gotten what she wanted. She wanted him. There was a comfort in the press of his body into hers as he leaned into hers. As he slid his tongue in her mouth and his hands under her clothes, she had this overwhelming feeling like she was coming home.

She smiled into the kiss, using her tongue to flirt with his as she slid a hand between his pants and skin, tracing designs on the skin just below his navel. He hissed as his manhood throbbed and grew. He was out of his pants in a flash, and had her down on the ground, her open kimono pooling around her. "Do you know how badly I want you? How badly I've wanted you all this time?" He growled into her ear as he cupped her breast and squeezed it. "Yes." She pulled him as if for a quick kiss. Instead she nibbled on his ear and then whispered. "So fuck me already. Shove your hard c..." He rammed into her, grinning at her lewd request. "Uhhhh…" she moaned, making him grow bigger. "Fuck." Then he was thrusting into her like it could save his life. Their period of abstinence had made Fuu's body more sensitive to his thrusts, and had made him extremely horny. He rammed into her without mercy and she tightened around him. "Mugen, oh god, Mugen!" She moaned as the waves of pleasure washed over her. "Thrust! Thrust harder!" He obliged, already feeling like he was edging. He began to stimulate her clit, and she began to writhe. "Cum with me." He whispered in her ear. Nodding desperately, she pulled him close and thrust with him as they climbed to the precipice. Then she was pawing at his shoulder and gasping sharply as she came, while he pulled her hips closer and came hard, emptying liquid heat into her womb. He thrust a few more times, and then collapsed on her, breathing hard.

"That was… intense." Fuu breathed, pushing a damp strand of hair out of her face. "Mmm hmm." Mugen murmured into her neck, not getting off. She played with his hair. "You shouldn't be so tempting." He nuzzled her neck. She smiled at this. She loved it the rare few times he had showed her affection and this was no exception. "I'm glad I am to you." She kissed him and slowly rotated her body until he was forced to lie on his back. Then she got off of him. "Who said we're done?" He complained. "No one. I just thought I ought to give you what I promised you a while back." He put his hands behind his head, nonchalantly pretending he was barely interested in what it was. "Oh yeah? And what is that?" She gave him the devil's own grin and kissed the tip of his manhood. It sprang to attention and Mugen sat up just as fast. "Whoa." He looked like a kid who got what he wanted for Christmas. "You're not serious? I thought you forgot." "I'm serious." She licked the tip to prove it. He groaned and leaned back. Gratified by the reaction she was getting, she ran her tongue lightly down the shaft and back up again. Mugen swore.

Fuu used her free hand to gently push him down, giving him a warm smile. Damn. How could she make him feel more warmed with one look than any heat source ever had, and while she was pleasuring him, no less?

Putting his hands behind his head, he enjoyed the sensations her mouth and tongue evoked from his stiff member with a cocksure grin on his face. Damn that woman! He had never been a one-woman guy. He had been the fuck-em-and-dump-em guy. Where was he going to find another woman who gave back what she got, wasn't afraid of him, and knew what he was, but loved it anyway? And she was _so_ willing to play with him.

He didn't give a damn anymore. He wouldn't wait on tenterhooks for something else bad to happen to her. He'd mark her as his so that no one would fuck with her, or they'd have to answer to him.

He didn't realize he'd gotten so worked up that he had started thrusting himself into her mouth roughly until he heard her squeal in surprise and the sensation of it against his sensitive skin made him get harder. "Holy fuck!" He breathed as Fuu came up for air coughing. "Mugen!" The vagrant grinned like that was his plan all along. "Keep going." He calmly raised an eyebrow at her. "Jerk." She muttered, frowning. But the she tucked a few loose stands from her loosening hairdo and lowered her mouth to his manhood once more.

This time it only took a few good thrusts and some tongue before he was arching up, cumming into her mouth hard. He lay back for a second, but then sat up as he noticed her about to spit it out, and kissed her. She swallowed in surprise and pulled away from him, coughing. Then she shoved him. "What the hell, Mugen! That was gross! What if I'd choked?" "You didn't, did'ja? 'N you know you'd never have tried it if I didn't help you to." "Rrrr." She turned her back on him. "Ouch. Well, I guess this ain't a good time for me to ask you to marry me then." He waited.

She turned to him in disbelief. "What?" His mouth set in a firm line. "You heard me." "B…but I thought you didn't want to anymore. I thought you were against anything that gave me any of your 'bad karma'." He shrugged. "I did. But I'm done. Shut up and marry me." He moved closer to her. She nodded, still surprised. "Does this mean we can have kids?" He frowned, but couldn't help be amused that she was actually asking his permission this time. He shrugged. "Whatever. But let's keep the amount of squalling brats to a minimum. Eggs don't really have business dancing with stones, and we ain't exactly on the road right now for the fun of it. If you lose another one, that's on you." He glared at her.

Fuu surprised him by launching into his arms and hugging him. "You really _did_ want Rie!" Fuck. He hadn't meant to let that slip. Putting his hand to his forehead, he sighed. She always had that effect on him. Then he shook it off, as she kept hugging him and he was starting to feel awkward. He probably hadn't been hugged this much before in his life, even by her. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He half-heartedly tried to push her off him, but gave up when she wouldn't let go. "You dumb broad. I guess that's a yes." She nuzzled his neck. "Of course it is." She sighed, sending tingles down his neck.

'Oh, and one more thing;" Mugen pretended he didn't want her again at the touch of her breath on his skin, for the sake of saying what he had to "If we gotta do the whole last names crap, I want yours." Fuu searched his face. "Why?" He shrugged. "One last names as good as another." Why were her eyes so deep? "'N… I'll belong to you." He muttered. Realizing what he'd just admitted to out loud, he tried to look nonchalant and hoped she hadn't heard. But that hope was shot to hell by the light that lit up her eyes. It was mesmerizing. She kissed him softly. "We'll belong to each other." She told him. Mugen smiled slightly into her mouth as he kissed her back. That sounded good to him.

"Congratulations. …But the walls are paper thin." Mugen and Fuu separated as if the other was on fire, looking at each other in surprise at the familiar voice coming from the neighboring cell.

* * *

Lol. Someone listening in? _Awkward. _

Yes, he proposed. Yes, she accepted. Feel free to squeal like a fangirl. ^^

I realized today in re-reading bits (to remind myself about something I had written in this fic) that my story is quite intense. Granted, I had (have) fun with it, but today for the first time I though maybe its too intense. But thats fine in the end, because this story is like an intense and bright firework that doesn't last long. Also, I feel I don't really work (openly) on mugen and fuu's relationship in the fic (things come out by accident a lot), but I originally thought doing a proper 'normal' relationship development with them would be to much like every other (usually good) fic on them I've read. I wanted to try this way which also focuses on action, as well as them being like the hot-headed passionate people they are. I like the fact that they established their relationship 'early on' in the story so I can feed the hungry fans (myself included. ^^), but its _after that_ they get to really know each other. You notice mugen still doesn't talk about his past with her (for example)? So, though they are pretty crazy about each other, they still have a ways to go in terms of _really_ becoming intimate (by going even deeper into who the other really is).

Sorry for that diatribe. (Or 'Sorry. Not sorry.' as I like to say. lol.) Blame it on my interest/ education in psychology. I like to over-analyse characters.

To refresh people's memories (because I'm sure I explained this before):

**Juban: **A kimono-like garment worn under the kimono.

I'm currently still working on the next chapter which, to me, means I'm a bit behind. I will try to keep up my rhythm of one chapter a month like I've managed so far, no fear.

But I _was_ working on my own original story (which I intend to publish), and finished some difficult edits (which means I was trying to be a perfectionist, but it doesn't really matter if I changed the parts I was editing or not). If anyone's interested in that, which is a fantasy novel about a princess 'held prisoner' in a tower which seems like a stereotypical fairy-tale at first *snicker*, message me and I can give you shout outs about its progress along the 'to-be-published' road, so you can read it when it comes out.

**Please rate and review!**


	19. Chapter 19: The escape

Chapter 19 : The escape

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"Jin?" Fuu hastily put her clothes back on, mortified. "Cock blocker." Mugen muttered loudly, grinning, before slowly putting his own clothes on.

Suddenly, a loud booming shook the dungeons, scattering dust and freeing smaller stones from the ceiling. Mugen caught Fuu as she was about to fall and dragged her out of the way of a falling stone, pulling her into his arms. "What was that?" She blushed a little at the intense look on his face when he had saved her and the way her heart pounded, glad he couldn't see her face at the moment. She could feel the heat of it on her cheeks. "You alright?" Mugen lifted her chin and examined her face. She nodded. Satisfied, he looked over her head to the stone wall separating them. "I think we better get out of here. Jin, you in any condition for that?"

Although Jin had been beaten, tortured, and would probably be running on adrenaline alone when the fighting started, he was more than ready to get out of there. "Hn."

Walking over to their cell door, Fuu pulled out one of her thinner hair pins and examined the lock for a moment before shoving the pin in it and wiggling it around. "Almost there…Ah!" The pin had snapped in two, part of it still wedged in the lock. Mugen shook his head. "Jeez girly."

Then he was pulling her to the closest wall as footsteps echoed in the stairwell Mugen had used when he had come into the dungeon.

It was Keiko. She rushed to them and pulled out a ring of keys, unlocking their cell door. "Keiko! Thank you! But…what happened? Was there an explosion?" Keiko regarded her for a moment. "I blew up the palace rice stores." Mugen was impressed in spite of himself. "How?" She shrugged. "I had overheard someone scolding a servant for bringing a lantern too close to the rice stores. Something about rice powder floating around in the air that would blow up if a spark was lit. So I tossed a torch inside and ran for it." Mugen grinned, making a mental note for later. The girl had spunk; he had to give her that.

She unlocked Jin's cell and was holding it open for him when they heard many feet running down the stairs and the clank of metal on metal. "Come on." Mugen pushed Fuu towards the other staircase. "Go first, we'll follow." Fuu frowned but turned to do as she was bid, just as Keiko's eyes widened, looking down at the arrow that had suddenly pierced her chest from behind. As more rained at them, Mugen and Jin deflected those aimed at them with their swords.

Fuu turned back instinctively to go to the girl, but Mugen stopped her and shook her shoulder briefly to get her attention. "She's dead. We have to get out of here. Go on. We'll follow." Tears streaming down her face, she hesitated only a moment, then nodded and turned back to the staircase, climbing until she reached the next landing. Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, Fuu saw that the cross-corridor was deserted, so she waited at the foot of the adjacent stairs and watch both; one for soldiers coming down and one for Mugen and Jin coming up. She heard the sound of ringing steel on steel and prayed that they would make it out.

When Mugen's head popped up from below, she sighed in relief. "Jin's following. Let's go." He led her up the second set of stairs into a corridor that was clearly part of the castle proper and not part of the dungeons by the ornate wood floors, the tapestries and the vases it housed.

When Jin came up behind Fuu, Mugen led them to the right down the corridor a few steps before the palace guards came up in front of him, blocking their way with swords raised. Jin looked behind them to see more guards at their rear. Both swordsmen turned to the guards closest to them, swords up.

"This way." Mugen grinned and charged right into the group of swordsmen in front of him. Fuu tried to keep out of their way, as Jin fought off the men at the rear who got to close as they followed the Ryukyuan down corridor after corridor.

After a while, Fuu was about to ask Mugen if he knew where he was going, when they emerged into an outdoor courtyard filled with people fighting, some with swords and most with various farm tools from axes to shovels to staffs. These last were flooding through a hole in the palace wall across from them. It wasn't hard to tell these were the townspeople on a warpath.

The two swordsmen fought their way across the courtyard to the hole, and across the large wood plank that someone had laid from the edge of the hole to the other side of the moat, shoving aside or cutting down those that didn't get out of their way in time, with Fuu following as closely as she could given the circumstances.

Once they were through and out of the crowd streaming into the palace on the makeshift bridge, the three stood and watched the scene for a few moments, taking in the mad rush of bodies across the makeshift bridge, the sound of metal on wood or metal, the fire billowing and smoking from within and the acrid smell of it.

Then they turned and walked around the palace and south west away from it, until the sounds and smells finally receded into nothing to be replaced by the sound of the wind in the trees, grass rustling, and the low chirruping of crickets.

They walked in silence for some time before Mugen startled Fuu by sheathing his sword and taking her hand in his. Smiling, she took this as a sign that he felt no one was following them, a sentiment that was amplified when Jin also sheathed his sword in its scabbard moments later. After looking at Mugen and Fuu's joined hands, he raised an eyebrow at Mugen. "Shut up four-eyes. You already know we're a thing." Mugen frowned. His frown deepened when Jin's mouth quirked up a little. "Pfft." But he didn't let go of her hand. Fuu didn't pay attention to this exchange, as she was starting to fall asleep on her feet. After a couple of head nods and some stumbling, Mugen picked her up off her feet and looked around for somewhere suitable for them to sleep of the road. Behind some bushes was a small clearing. It wouldn't protect them if it rained, but it didn't smell like rain was coming to Mugen, so he figured they were fine 'till morning.

The stoic ronin sat and then lay down, grateful for the rest at long last. With luck he'd get to sleep off most of his exhaustion before anything else happened. Not that he expected luck to favor him especially.

Mugen laid Fuu down and then shed his haori and laid it down next to her. Taking care not to wake her, he picked her up again and shifted her over so she was sleeping on his jacket. Then he lay down next to her and put an arm across her waist, ignoring the urge to grab her boob too. She was more interesting in that department when she was awake, not that he'd tried anything on her while she was sleeping. Not yet at least. He smirked and settled next to her.

When he heard the other man speak, he didn't turn around. "Try to refrain from making love to her in my hearing from now on." Mugen never thought of it in those terms before. It had always been fucking before, not making love. That sounded campy and corny, but just right for Fuu somehow. It would be part of her thing. It had never been part of his, and until now he would have never have thought of using those terms. But although he never liked the thought of saying it, even in his own mind, he did love her. So it probably applied. God, he was going soft. "Can't make no promises. You know me." "Unfortunately." The ronin went silent again for a time before speaking once more. "If you ever dump her, treat her like just a whore or hurt her, I will cut off your manhood some dark night while you sleep." "Whoa there! Jeez Dexter, no wonder I used to think…" Mugen realized what he was about to say and abruptly cut himself off. It was bad enough the broad got him blurting stuff out these days, but there was no way in hell he'd let the ronin have anything like the same effect on him. "Hn?" "Never mind." Mugen muttered. Jeez.

* * *

Sorry for being so late with this chapter guys. I had written about half of this chapter and then I was dumb and left my usb key (the only place i kept my chapters for this story, because I distrust my laptop after it died and i had to pay a lot to recover its files) in my computer while moving it. Then I accidentally hit the usb key on a doorjamb while moving my comp with it still in the slot, bending the head. My computer couldn't read the files on it after that and it it would have cost 80$ to fix, IF they could save it. So what you read just now is a recreation of the part I wrote (about 2/3rds). Basically, its from my memory up till where they leave the palace and look over the scene. Everything after is new. Thats why its a its a bit choppy for the most part (because I know I wrote the original better). But I got the main parts down, so anywho.

I was going to to upload this chapter and number 20 to make up for it at the end of last month (may 2016), but fanfiction insisted my ms word files were not ms word files no matter what I did, and refused to let me copy-paste the text. So I gave up till now. (And the website sucks for helping you, as I've written them 3-4 times since I joined to report problems, and they've never once replied.)

Please rate and review! :)


	20. Chapter 20: Morning

**Chapter 20: Morning**

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Fuu woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. Her head felt heavy, but she felt peaceful and warm otherwise. She snuggled closer to Mugen and promptly fell fast asleep again.

Fuu whimpering and squirming in her sleep woke Mugen later. Groaning and propping himself up on an elbow, he looked over at her. He poked her shoulder but got no response. "No… No. Don't take her." A tear slid out from Fuu's closed eye. Mugen sat up and shook her shoulder. "No, Keiko! Keiko don't! Don't take her! Don't take Rie, please! I can't have any more! Please!" Blanching at this, Mugen reached over angrily and roughly shook her shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up, damit girly!" Her eyes roamed under their lids as tears streamed down her unconscious face as if searching for something before they flew open. Disoriented from the dream, Fuu looked around until she saw Mugen. The moment her eyes met his, he pulled her into his arms tightly, glaring over her head at no one. He didn't like the look of haunted sadness and the tears in her eyes. He knew that feeling and it burned him. She shouldn't have to know it. "You're fine." He said roughly into her ear as he held her head to his chest. "You were just dreaming."

"Oh. I…I.." She put her hand to her face and was surprised to find tears there. She looked at the wet hand she pulled away from her face. Then she suddenly leaned into his chest and gripped his shirt, crying noiselessly as she remembered. "What the hell girly?" Mugen gripped her around the waist with one arm and used his other hand to lift her chin. Embarrassed, Fuu jerked her chin away, not meeting his gaze. "I'm fine. I…I just… remembered my dream. I just…" she shrugged "remembered that I can't have children anymore. That's all." Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she attempted a weak smile. "I'm fine, really." Mugen pulled her into his arms again. "You are such a bad liar." She leaned her head into his shoulder and didn't contest this. "How do you know you can't? The doc said it's a toss-up." "No. No. I can't. Please don't pretend Mugen. I…can't." He pursed his lips, but just held her. It frustrated him that he couldn't help her. He wanted her to be her usual self. But he didn't want to tell her obvious and useless lies.

He was mad that some assholes stole this thing she really seemed to want from her. Normally, he didn't give a damn about others, but this was pissing him off. Mugen knew he was changing because of her. But he didn't want to think about that. He just wished he could beat the shit out of the bandits who had done it to her, but he had already killed them. The image of her lying unconscious and bleeding by the side of the road after she lost the baby made him see red.

Suddenly, a cool soothing hand stroked his cheek, cooling the fire within like a balm. He looked down into her eyes. He refused to think. If he did, he knew he would reject everything she gave him, everything she offered, but he wanted it all, too much to deny it. He fell onto her lips softly but deeply and she accepted his kiss, holding onto his wrist as he brushed away a tear from her face with his thumb.

Then he pulled away abruptly and stood. "We should wake four-eyes and get going. I need me some food." Fuu shook her head and smiled. As she got up, she realized she had been sleeping on Mugen's haori. She smiled even more, surprised once again by one of his rare his thoughtful acts. She took it and shook it out, trying to get the dirt off of it as best she could. "Leave it. It'll get dirty again soon enough." "Dirty and torn." She grinned at him, but held it out for him to slide his arms into. Shrugging, he slid his arms in and lifted it to rest on his shoulders properly.

"Where do we go next? Further south?" Fuu asked him. "Doesn't matter. There's nowhere in the verse to go that matters. Not with the Shogun sending his lackeys after us." Fuu sighed. "Hamamatsu." They looked over at Jin, who was sitting up from his position of sleeping on the ground. "Why?" "Oh Mugen, don't you see? Its where that Kohan…I mean…that Shino lady is." Mugen looked at Fuu for a second before he gave Jin a meaningful smirk, which the ronin ignored.

Fuu turned to Jin. "But if we went there directly, it would still be within the three years even if we went slowly." Jin put a hand to his eyes in frustration. But it was Mugen who surprised them. "They won't nab her. Even if they know about her, they'd just set a trap for us over there. But I don't think they know about her. I doubt the shogun hears about every runaway whore." Mugen gazed expressionlessly at Jin's look. "You know what I mean." "Mugen's right. Why would they know about her?" "Have you forgotten how strangely adept people have been at tracking us down and figuring out who we interact with? My freeing her would be a red flag." "But they could just think you were being kind to some random woman in need." Mugen and Jin both gave Fuu a look that said they thought she was being naive. "It could happen." She grumbled. Jin pushed up his glasses. "In any case, I can see that they would most likely keep tabs on her to see if we'd return there at some point. I do not like leaving her for nine more months, but it seems she may be safer if I do." "Have you ever considered just leaving her there?" "Mugen!" "I have. But she will be far less safe once she's freed without us there. The shogun's people may try to take her as bait, but they are not notoriously kind to those kinds of 'guests'." "Wow. You're screwed." "Geez Mugen, have some sensitivity!" Fuu punched his shoulder. "Don't know what that means." Mugen smirked at the aggravated look on her face. "So: south?" "Since when do you make plans on where to go?" "It's just the obvious choice." "So why'd you ask him then?" Fuu put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" Mugen leaned over her angrily. "South is fine." Jin said it more to shut them up than because he cared where they went. He didn't. He just hoped that their theories of Shino being safe in the refuge house were indeed true. He knew the women there were protected under law and that no man was allowed to set foot in the place, that it was enforced by the Buddhist nuns and the guards, and that even the shogunate didn't intervene, but who knew if the current shogun, a man by the name of Tokugawa Iemitsu , would try to work around the laws that protected women in it to get to him.

"Then let's find us some food. I'm starving!" Jin and Fuu followed Mugen back onto the road.

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Please rate and review! 3


	21. Chapter 21: A man with something to lose

**Chapter 21**

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Even though they had said they'd head south, Fuu, Jin and Mugen made their way southwest and wound up roughly following the coast west. Only Fuu couldn't tell because she hadn't traveled as much as they had and couldn't tell the direction without a map or a major landmark to orient her, but it didn't matter anyway. Their goal had been to move away from the direction of Edo. The men didn't bother telling her. They didn't care were they went, and she'd find out soon enough so it didn't matter.

After skirting towns for a while, they stopped in the small farming village of Azo to find shelter from a sudden rain storm. They discovered an abandoned house on its outskirts and had decided to stop there until the rain dissipated.

The trio hadn't spoken of what had happened since they had parted ways, each lost in thought and in the desire to put ground between them an Echizen. It wouldn't be long that the shogun would get word of the rebellion, and none of them wanted to nearby when the army swept through the place or when the authorities figured out they had been there and informed the shogunate.

Jin was cooking the last of the rice they had bought in the last town, and Fuu was sweeping out the floor so they could sleep on it. Mugen was lounging in a corner, studying his unsheathed sword. "Getting dull. I gotta find a blacksmith soon." "You should sharpen your sword on your own. A good swordsman does." Jin said this last with the intention to rile the vagrant. "You wanna have a go?" Mugen raised the weapon in the ronin's direction. "Jeez. Give it a rest. The last thing we need is you two busting up this place." Fuu frowned at them. Jin smiled slightly. Mugen shrugged and resheathed his sword.

Jin had missed his friends, for all their bickering, and now their inability to keep their hands off each other. He used to want to fight Mugen at the drop of a hat, but now he wasn't interested in killing the man. But he discovered that poking at him could be fun sometimes. And Fuu was always energetic and as naive as usual, despite not being as naïve in the ways of men anymore.

Of course he was glad Mugen had finally gotten over his hang ups and finally gotten with her, but Jin was unprepared for all the constant 'accidental' touching, the not so subtle sexual innuendo, and Mugen's frequent open leering at Fuu. All were new and all were disturbing to the ronin because he didn't want to think of them going at it, and he had already heard them enough.

Part of him was a bit jealous of their closeness. He missed Shino, and it was a constant reminder of what he couldn't have until she was free.

He poured out the rice for them, and listened to Fuu tell him what had happened while they were separated, speaking sadly when she told him of the child she had lost. Jin noticed Mugen's knuckles were white during this, his hands clenched tightly. "She was dead." He said lowly, glaring at Jin. Jin glanced at Fuu alarmed. "But I came back. I'm fine." She looked pleadingly at Mugen. "You can't have kids no more. You wanted some and you can't have 'em no more. What's fine about that?"

Jin startled Fuu by suddenly leaning across to her and grabbing her chin in a flash, looking into her eyes as if searching for something. Mugen grabbed the ronin's wrist. "Hey! Hands off! She's my woman now, you can't just grab her whenever. You got that? No midnight rendezvous, no whispered secrets, no hugs. Got it?" He turned to Fuu. "And as for you, if you got a problem, you come to me now not him. Got it?" He glared and crossed his arms.

"Sorry." Jin said, more to Fuu than Mugen, surprised by the man's outburst. Both he and Fuu were startled by the realisation that he had been awake during those times during their search for the sunflower samurai and listening to them. But both were equally startled to now realise just how jealous of them he'd been.

"Okay." Fuu replied softly, blushing. Then she got mad. "Why didn't you tell me you were jealous? How _could _you just tell me that now?" "I _wasn't _jealous. And what'd it matter? You liked Jin then, not me." "Whaaat?" You could fairly see the steam coming off the young woman. "What the he..." "You..._ass_!" She got up and began to pace. "So that's it, isn't it?" She glared at him. "That explains everything. _Everything._" She walked up to him and poked him with her pointer finger as she spoke. "It was _you _I liked, not Jin. _You._" Mugen was speechless. Jin resisted the urge to laugh at the situation and at Mugen's expression. Barely. It was priceless.

Then Mugen got mad. "_You _were the one all lovey dovey. 'Oh Jin I'm so sad, why don't you hold me?'" "It wasn't like that! He was just being kind. That time I was sad because I didn't want you to kill each other, since he's my friend and…"she lowered her voice and looked away in embarrassment over the memory "I loved you." She glared at him again. "How could I be happy that one of you was going to kill the other? You… _dummy_!" She exited the shack and almost slammed the door.

Mugen gaped at the door, before looking at Jin with a poleaxed look. "Go after her. _Dummy._" He smirked the vagrant.

Mugen got up and followed her, not even noticing the insult.

When the door closed, Jin's mind went back to Fuu's revelations and Mugen's angry reaction to her words about losing a child, dying and not being able to have more children. They were shocking, hard revelations. It was why he had examined her face. She seemed fine, but knowing her it was an act.

What's more, he saw just how deeply Mugen loved her for the first time ever. And while he suspected it; seeing it on the pirate's face was equally as shocking as Fuu's revelations. Like Fuu, he hadn't known the man was jealous of their relationship. He had that feeling on a rare occasion or two, but not for certain until now. Jin's astute mind now picked up that Mugen must have felt inferior to Jin because she had seemed to be choosing him over the vagrant and also because he wasn't what he imagined she deserved. But in the time they had been searching for the sunflower samurai, Jin could never have guessed such things about the man. He was too good at keep his poker face about these things that he had accidentally just elucidated, which mattered the most to him.

He hoped he didn't have to talk to Mugen about this. The pirate wouldn't thank him for putting it under a spotlight, or want to admit to it, but Jin wanted Mugen to not hold onto some bullshit idea that he was not good enough for Fuu or inferior. Especially to him. Once he might have thought so, but Mugen was different now that he was with Fuu. He'd never seen the man care for anything but food, sex and causing trouble before. And in his absence the man had change even more. A lot more.

He was now a man with something to lose. No wonder Mugen had reacted that way when he grabbed her chin. A man with something to lose was often more dangerous than one with nothing to lose. Jin couldn't help but grin.

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Please rate and review!


	22. Chapter 22: Love and payback

**Chapter 22**

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**Warning: **Fluff and lemons.

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Mugen sat down next to Fuu on the porch. "Yer getting wet." He commented, not really sure what to say to her. She shrugged. This made him a bit annoyed. "Look, I didn't know you liked me back then. 'N if I did, why would I want to know it? You turn me inside out. You make me say shit I don't want to without trying, and I'm sure you'll be the death of me." "Then why are you with me now?" Fuu said dully, looking out into the rain obscured landscape. "Because I don't care if you do anymore, okay? Damnit!" He ran his fingers though his unruly hair. "Don't be a pain in the ass, you know what I think of you." "That I'm a pain in the ass? And the word is _feel_, not think." "Eugh." He roughly pulled her to him with the arm closest to her. "Why do I gotta say it? You know what I mean." She couldn't help leaning into his shoulder. "Why's it so hard? If you mean it, you should say it from time to time." He sighed in frustration. "Hardass." This made her smile. "So how do you feel?" She pressed. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Sighing again, he shook his head. Then he grabbed her head in both his hands, brought his forehead to hers; leaning slightly against it, and closed his eyes. "I…feel…" He trailed off. Fuu waited. She was about to give up when he finally spoke. "Love. I feel…love. I…love you."

She was about to move to kiss him, but he held her head in place without opening his eyes. "Don't move. Just stay like this. Just a bit longer." Surprised, Fuu did as he asked.

When he finally opened his eyes again, he had a mischievous grin on his face. "Payback time." With that he kissed her, immediately parting her lips invasively with his tongue, mercilessly exploring every inch of her tongue with his as he slid his hands into the folds of her kimono and lightly skimmed her nipple, causing her to shudder. When he withdrew his mouth from hers to taste the fragrant skin of her neck, she breathlessly asked. "What about Jin? He'll hear us." He nibbled on the skin just below her right earlobe, rendering thought difficult. "Who cares?" He caressed her collar bone, sending tingles down her skin as he continued worship the side of her neck with his mouth. His other hand was teasing the skin under her breast. "I'll make you wetter than the rain." He murmured on her skin. Part of her mentally rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of this statement, while the other part of her was so turned that she felt herself tighten in anticipation of the things he would do to her. "Promise?" She somehow managed to keep enough presence of mind to thrust her hands up his shirt and fan her hands from his stomach muscles above his belly button to his pectorals. As she brushed over his nipples she felt the vibrations of his groan on her sensitive skin. The tension it was creating was driving her crazy.

He shrugged out of his hoari and pulled his shirt off, tossing them to the side without a second thought. Then he was sliding the hand that had traced her collar bone between her breasts to rest halfway between them and her navel, while his other hand traced as circular pattern from the outsides of her breast to the nipple. Rubbing it between his thumb and index finger, he lazily stroked the spot where the other hand had come to rest, before opening her kimono wider and taking her nipple in his mouth. As his tongue danced over it, his other hand traced a similar circular motion on her other breast until it reached her other nipple. He stroked and teased it as he began to suck o the other one. Fuu sucked in her breath hard. By now Mugen had already fulfilled his promise of making her wetter than the rain, but he was far from done with her.

She weakly tugged at the top of his shorts, trying to pull it down, but to turned on to focus. Grinning, Mugen pulled them off and then removed her kimono in a hurry. He stopped to admire her body for as second, before licking and sucking her other nipple, as he traced his fingers downwards almost agonizingly slowly.

When he reached the skin below her navel, she almost arched up into his touch, desperate to be satisfied. As he followed his hands downwards with his mouth; kissing, licking and stroking, he teased her other lips with a few strokes to their opening, before plunging two fingers in her suddenly. She squealed, coming with the overwhelming pleasure of it, shuddering into his hand.

When her shuddering stopped, Mugen began stroking her again. She felt the wave of pleasure grow again, but faster than before. Then he stopped and withdrew his hand from her. "No!" She complained. Mugen grinned at her impatience. Then he teased her with the head of his manhood, pushing against her, but not hard enough to penetrate. Groaning, she rubbed against it, trying to stimulate him so he'd enter her. "Mm. Maybe not yet." He began to run the length of his shaft through her lips and rub her clit without entering her. While it increased the waves of pleasure within her, it was not enough. She was about to tell him to just penetrate her already, when he rammed into her hard all the way to the hilt, and then began thrusting at a mad pace Fuu wasn't prepared for. She cried out as she came again, but he was still ramming into her. Instead of the tension slacking, it intensified a she climbed swiftly towards another, more intense, climax. "Oh. My. God." She moaned in his ear before her mind popped and went blank. She felt him come into her and a second later she came harder than she ever had, her eyes rolling back into her skull.

When she could see again, it took her a moment to orient herself again. She finally realized Mugen was panting and on her, still recovering like her. She laughed breathlessly. "What's funny?" He focused on her. "Thank you." He looked at her quizzically. "For the best orgasm I ever had." She clarified. This earned her his grin. "Your welcome. Fancy another go?" "Give me a minute." He rolled off of her and laid back. After a minute or so, he spoke again. "Want to try anal?" "What?" "You know, I stick my dick in your ass?" She made a face. "Charming. No, I know what anal is, but…Whaat?" He turned to face her. "You're so full of it. You didn't know what anal was. Admit it." "I knew what it was." She saw his look. "Okay fine, I didn't." She pursed her lips in annoyance. "So?" He stared at her. "So what?" "You want to try it?" She looked at him. He seemed to really want to do it. "Will it hurt?" "I dunno, I never asked." She stared at him, hurt for a minute, before she remembered. She had almost forgotten that he used to love sleeping with whores. Finally she responded. "I'll think about it."

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Hey all. In keeping with promise I made to myself to publish a chapter a month, this story is now where it should be. I wrote these last two chapters in about two hours (I was on a Rolllll. lol), in the wee hours of the morning. I'm already working on the next chapter, so baring technical issues it should come out on schedule.

A few fun facts:

-All towns and cities in the story are real places in japan. You can google map them.

\- I occasionally toss in modern western euphemisms or make reference to things not from the edo period time both for the fun of it, and because thats what the show did.

Please rate and review!


	23. Chapter 23: The new priest

**Chapter 23: **The new priest

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**Warning: **Lemons and enough fluff to tranquilize a horse. ((Now I really want to see a horse tranq-ed on fluff. lol. No horses were harmed in the making of this comment.))

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When they returned inside with messy hair and disheveled clothing, Jin ignored them. He'd definitely heard them again, despite the rain. They had tossed their clothes off in such a hurry that they were at least half wet from being flung partly off the porch.

Fuu was embarrassed again. But she couldn't seem to help herself. Every time Mugen laid his hands on her, she couldn't seem to say no. Maybe this was what Mugen meant by being turned upside down. Well part of it anyway. Emotionally he had always turned her upside down. She smiled thinking that she of all people could do that to him. But that was love, she supposed.

As they sat near the fire to try to dry off, Fuu laid her head on his shoulder and smiled contently. He automatically pulled her closer as he leaned again the wall.

"When are you two getting married?" Mugen started at Jin's matter-of-fact question, but then put a bland look on his face. "I overheard in the dungeons, remember?" The ronin said in response to the question on Fuu's face. She smiled almost shyly and looked down. The vagrant shrugged his shoulders. "Whenever." In truth he had no clue how it was done, but as far as he was concerned it didn't matter. The broad would fix the details. Since he asked and she accepted, she may as well already be his wife. God, that was a weird thought though. Mugen never thought he'd get married, let alone to the brat. But then he'd never expected to have a child either. At least one he knew about and would have played father to. He thought of Rie and the children she could never have now.

Glancing at Fuu, he poked her hand to get her attention. When she looked at him, he took her hand and squeezed it softly. "Come here." He pulled her to him and made her sit in his lap with her side facing his torso as he leaned against the wall, so that she had to lean against him to be comfortable. She placed her head on his chest and smiled sweetly.

Looking at them in such a naturally intimate position made Jin feel like his world had been thrown upside down. It was one thing to know they were going at it like rabbits, or see them sit together or hold hands. But you'd have to be blind not to see how much the pirate loved the girl, and how much she reciprocated. That was a Mugen the ronin never expected to see in his whole life. You might have told him that the government was going to start handing out free money, for all he'd have believed it. Until now. Jin knew it would hardly change Mugen; he'd been fighting so hard to save her every time she had ever gotten kidnaped and he'd never once gotten paid for it. He would still fight as he always did. For her. For himself. But it was startling to see such a deep change in the seemingly careless, violent man.

Not noticing the startled look he hid, Fuu asked him a question she assumed he knew the answer to. "How do people get married usually?" Pulled out of his own thoughts, he responded. "I've never been at a ceremony, but I believe it is customary to sign written agreements to be married to one another and then the family holds a dinner feast. Though I am uncertain as to what the document of agreement includes and if you have to register the marriage with local government or not." "Troubling." Mugen imitated Jin's way of speaking while holding his chin in a mock thoughtful way. "Mugen! Don't be mean!" Fuu giggled. She had to bury her head in his shirt to muffle her laughter. Jin mentally rolled his eyes.

But then he smiled inwardly. He was genuinely glad for them. Mugen and he seemed to be such polar opposites, but in truth they were more similar than either would admit to. And now he thought, looking at them, that if the ex-convict could find his measure of happiness, why not Jin? They had been through an ordeal in his absence, but here they were; closer than before he'd seen them last.

He hoped Shino hadn't forgotten him.

Within a week they reached the outskirts of Tsuruga, a port town. They had been walking all day, and now they were looking for a place to stay. So when they saw a sign that read 'Kehi Jinju Shrine' next to a gravel path and Fuu declared that they should stay there for the night, Mugen and Jin didn't protest that they should hold out for an inn.

After crossing the courtyard, Fuu rang the bell and clapped her hands before saying a prayer for their journey, Rie and their futures. Jin stood silently, thinking his own thoughts. Mugen stood to side and a bit back from Fuu; a bored look plastered on his face. But he was actually studying Fuu praying, a pastime he always had thought of as stupid. If there was a God, he couldn't possibly give a damn for someone like him. Wasn't his whole life a testament to that? But the reality was that now he was keenly aware that, either through coincidence or because God really existed, Fuu was alive. It was hard to ignore the fact that he had demanded god save her, and somehow, against logic and the laws of life and death, she had come back from the dead. He felt he owed whatever cosmic force might be responsible for that. Feeling stupid, he mentally thanked Kami for saving her and asked he keep doing it, hating how ridiculous it was asking a being that probably didn't exist for help keeping her safe. But he figured that it couldn't hurt to cover all his bases, just in case.

Once the flow of people visiting the shrine to say prayers had thinned substantially, Mugen made sure the coast was clear before motioning to his companions to follow him behind the altar. He stopped, eying the young man lying there, who had been lounging with his hands behind his head. He sat up when he noticed them.

"This is our spot, bub. I don't care how long you've been camped out here, but it's ours now." Mugen said lowly, the touch of a threat in his tone. It usually made people jump out of his way.

The young man surprised him by smiling. "By all means." He got up and moved out of their way. "I won't tell Elder Takamitsu. He'd make you do chores, but I don't care about that." Mugen sat against the backside of the altar; suspicious of this neat kid with his straight-cut shoulder length hair, his stupid straight bangs and his white hoari and navy hakama that were tied back just under his knees. He looked like a sissy. "Whatever." "Are you training to be a priest?" Fuu asked, examining his clothing which looked very similar to what Shinto priests wore. "Yes. ...Well, actually I was. But now I'm done training and I'm going to be a priest in another shrine." "Great." Mugen drawled sarcastically.

Jin sat next to Mugen as Fuu glared at the vagrant, who ignored her. The boy didn't seem bothered by Mugen's rough edges. He eyed Mugen and Jin's swords with some interest. "Are you two swords for hire?" "Depends." "On what?" "On why you want to know, brat." "Oh, my name is Hirotori Shiro. I want to hire you." The new priest declared. "Is that so? Do you even have money for that? Gotta put your money where your mouths at kid." But Mugen watched him carefully at the mention of being paid. "Yep. I'm going down the coast to the Kumano Shrine near Obama. It should take about a month. I'd pay for your food and lodgings and some money on top of that. Half here and half after I get to my destination." One of Mugen's eyebrows shot up and he eyed Jin, who understood right away. It sounded similar to what Sara had offered when she joined them. But all Mugen said to the kid was "Prove you got the funds and we'll think about out."

Grinning, the boy turned and walked off, before turning back excitedly. "Wait a minute. Don't go away." The minute he was gone, Mugen tuned to Jin. "Well?" "I don't see how a youth his age and physical build could be a threat, but _she_ didn't seem threatening at first, either." She?" Fuu asked, oblivious to their concerns. "Sara." "What? …You think he could be an assassin in disguise?" "It seems unlikely, but it is best to be cautious all the same." Mugen butted in. "Yeah. 'An it's kind of suspicious how a new priest has that kind of dough put away. IF he does." He muttered this last.

Then the boy came bounding back with a drawstring bag in his hands. He opened it to reveal a large amount of gold koban, nibuban, ichibuban, nishuban and isshuban, but no mon. The trio's eyes widened. They'd not seen so much money in one place before.

Then the boy shut it and tied the purse to his belt. Mugen was certain this kid was either a naive idiot, or he really was a government level assassin to be flashing that much coin to random strangers, who might have robbed him blind. And that's if they didn't kill him too. It was tempting to just grab the purse and run, but he could imagine Fuu's disproving look and kept his itchy fingers to himself.

"We'll take the job!" Fuu exclaimed excitedly. "Now hold up. It's me 'n Jin's swords he'll be wanting. You can't decide for us; you'd just be decoration on this trip." With this, the air around Fuu went cold. Jin mentally facepalmed. "Just…decoration? Just decoration? Fine. This decoration will be happy to leave you two to your little trip. Have fun!" With that, she stalked off.

Hirotori Shiro looked at the shocked and slightly mad Mugen to Fuu's retreating back and then to Jin as the ronin cleared his throat meaningfully. Mugen frowned as he saw Jin's look, knowing what he was saying without any words. "Shut up four eyes." He muttered, before following Fuu. Goddamned bitch. He hated these games. But he didn't want Fuu to leave, and she might decide to be stubborn enough to actually do it.

"Hold up, girly." Fuu kept walking. "Hey!" He grabbed her by the arm and whirled her around. "I'm talking to you!" "I couldn't tell. Let go!" She tried yanking her arm from his wiry grip, but he was too strong. "I _hate_ it when you do that! You know I didn't mean you are useless. Don't be so stubborn." He expected her to get even more flared up, but she surprised him by standing motionless for a second before leaning her head on his shoulder. "I hate when _you_ do that." He said quietly, almost resignedly, into his shoulder. "I'm not useless, and I _hate_ it when you treat me like I am. I _asked_ you to teach me to use my tanto, didn't I? And don't I have other uses? Aren't I more than decoration to you?" She said this last softly.

Mugen felt like a grade A asshole. But her last statement pissed him off. He pushed her back to look at her face. "Of course you are. Didn't I tell you already? Don't you know what you are to me? Yer so stupid." With that he took her chin in his hand and his lips came crashing into hers. "So stupid." He whispered when he pulled away, before kissing her deeply again. He kissed her one more time, as if accentuating the point. "And for the record, I don't think you're useless. I meant that you can't fight with a sword, and that's what he's hired us for. I do _not_ treat you like yer useless."

Fuu disagreed, but didn't want to argue with him, so she kept quiet about it. Mugen didn't miss the little frown that meant she didn't believe him. He sighed in frustration and scratched his head. "Maybe you ain't skilled with a sword, but you always patched me 'n Jin up after a fight and made sure we were alright. You can read and write. You keep track of the money so we ain't burning through it." Fuu snorted at this. He'd always made it known how much a pain in the ass this trait made her before now. He plowed on. "Yer always surprising me with the shit you do. I mean, I don't know a soul who'd have tried to bust me and Jin out when that dumb shit noble wanted to behead us back when we met, never mind it being a tiny spitfire girl like you." Fuu warmed at this. She hadn't known he had been impressed about that. She hadn't thought, she just did it. His next words had her ears burning. "And you're a minx in the sack. Hot damn." He grinned at her with a lecherous edge. She looked at the ground, embarrassed, but still unable to keep a slight grin off her face. "And you're cute as fuck when you get all shy." She smiled up at him. "So give me a break. So you can't swordfight. I gotta do _something_ well that you can't, come on." With this she hugged him and leaned her head against his chest. She could just make out his whisper. "Didn't it ever occur to you that I like protecting you?" She looked up at him, and saw that he had said another thing he felt he shouldn't from the look on his face. She beamed at his slight frown while he tried to look away from her. Shaking her head at how cute his embarrassment made him, she reached up and pulled him down to kiss him. Then she pulled his ear to her mouth to whisper in it. "When you make that embarrassed look, you turn me on."

Mugen froze like a statue and blushed. He couldn't speak. He couldn't think. He just stared at her. Then he recovered slightly and pretended she hadn't said anything. He didn't know how to react to what she said. He knew it made his insides fizzle warmly, like drinking quality sake. But he never felt it before without the alcohol, and it had him floored.

Fuu just laughed and kissed him, which brought back the feeling of warmth and lust combined that wormed from his chest to his genitals and back again. He wanted to take her badly, clinging to the part of the feeling understood, but they were still in the shrine's courtyard.

He sighed. "Come on." He took her hand. "We good?" "Yeah." She leaned against him as if to prove it while they walked back to where they left the ronin and the new priest.

"Is there a place you priests usually don't go here?" He asked Hirotori. "Well, yes. There's this building to the west that's separated from the complex. It's not been used in a long time except for storage sometimes." The priest didn't seem at all concerned with why he wanted to know.

Jin usually didn't get such a clear message that the vagrant needed to release some tension because Mugen normally kept a great poker face about it (as with everything) unless he was trying to freak Jin out with his pervy-ness to get a reaction. But this time it was clearly on his face, and in the way he held himself.

Sighing, he mouthed at the pirate 'You owe me.' And then he asked Hirotori to show him around the shrine.

The minute Jin pulled the boy away, Fuu understood what happened and blushed. She looked at Mugen, grinning at the almost pleading question in his eyes. "Come on then Cassanova." She pulled him towards the derelict storage shed. "There better not be any rats or bugs."

The minute they were in with the door slid shut he kissed her and almost frantically removed her clothing. His intensity was almost overwhelming. She realised it was caused by what she had said, but she was surprised that he reacted so strongly to her admission that his embarrassment turned her on. Remembering it heightened her stimulation and they were naked in a flash; touching, stroking, kissing, their skin burning where they touched as an aching need burned stronger and stronger with every touch. She guided his throbbing member to her quivering folders and moaned as he penetrated her with the same burning intensity as she had yet to get used to. But she hoped she never would.

As thrust into her, she wrapped her legs around him and thrust back, so torqued up that she couldn't stand waiting to climax. He fucked her hard and she squeezed down on him so hard he came long and hard. She arched back, climaxing so intensely, she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. Then she lay limply against him, panting like she had run a mile.

Mugen found that some of the fizzling had faded, but the warmth still lingered. He smiled and kissed her. "You're so beautiful." Fuu's eyes went wide in surprise. Then she smiled shyly. "Thank you."

Mugen smiled at her in a way he never had before. It was filled with love, soft and sweet. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Feeling the surge of sexual tension return with the warmth of his gaze, she kissed him sweetly until she was almost dizzy with the intoxication of it. When he ran his hands up her body, she arched into his hands to encourage his touch. Her soft breasts swelled I his hands, the nipples perking up with his attention. His hands continued wandering over her supple skin, until he arrived at her lower lips. Entering them with his fingers, he rubbed her clit. Kissing her navel, he switched his fingers for his tongue, licking the sensitive membrane as he thrust his fingers in her vagina. Her nerves twitched and clenched, her core throbbing with need. When he penetrated her with his roving, restless tongue and stimulated her clit with his fingers again, she jerked and came into his mouth. He grinned, her juices dribbling slightly down his lips. He licked them as her body slowly relaxed in a post coitus haze.

Then she rolled to her knees and pushed him down with a hand on his chest. "Your turn." He grinned as she took him in her mouth 3/4ths of the way to his balls, and slowly rubbed her lips against its rock hard length. Grabbing the base of the the shaft with her hand, she pumped him in sync with her mouth. She licked him, and he inhaled appreciatively, his breathing quickening with the building stimulation.

Then she switched her focus to the head, licking the crown as she fondled his balls. She sucked on the head and he hissed as she moved to the tip, licking the hole that leaked readily.

Kissing the length and giving it little teasing licks, she lifted it to give her further access to his private areas. She stroked the shaft and moved her mouth to his balls, which she sucked on slowly as she pumped him. Lazily licking his gonads, she felt him quiver under her touch.

She wanted to try something, but she wasn't sure he'd want her to, and it wasn't the time to ask, so she traced the areas just around the base of his balls with her tongue instead. He sucked in his breath, but she had already moved her mouth back to his dick, and was pumping it harder and harder as he rocked into her mouth.

Then he came, pumping a few times as he emptied into her. She debated for a second weather to spit or swallow, and then chose something different. She crawled up his body and let the come leak onto his chest and then licked it off his chest, as his eyes widening at her unexpected and erotic action.

He felt himself grow hard again when she finished and began to rub his nipple with her tongue, her hand darting back to his manhood once more, but only long enough to tease the shaft back to ramrod hardness. "You're going to kill me. But I love it. Don't stop." He breathed heavily. Smiling at this, she kissed and teased the skin below his navel until he couldn't take it anymore.

He had her on her back in seconds and rammed into her, his eyes blazing with fierce lust. After a few hard thrusts, he slowed his pace slightly. Instead of climbing sharply, she rode the wave of pleasure, wishing it could go on and on and on. But soon he returned to riding her hard and fast, filling her to the hilt with his passion. She felt herself climbing to the peak, only to have him slow again.

At first she was frustrated, but then she felt the peaking feeling return, only slower. She relaxed into the feeling and let it take her higher, higher, the throbbing in her burning harder and harder with every thrust. He fondled her breasts as he lazily moved his swollen shaft in her, a torment she loved. Then she was shuddering hard and uncontrollably, her legs quivering, before she felt like floodgates opened in her and she came, long and intense, but seemingly slow, like a surfer riding down a wave. She thrust on him once more at the end and felt his stream of liquid heat hit the back of her womb hard.

She smiled contently into his bare chest. They held each other. "You're a strange creature." Mugen commented as they enjoyed the afterglow of their lovemaking and the nearness of the other. "Why are you with me?" The question was half rhetorical. Fuu didn't hesitate. "Because I _need_ you." He knew she wasn't talking about lust just then. Intense emotions swallowed him up so he couldn't speak, only lay back and look up at the buildings' wood ceiling and fight to dull the intense edge of what he was feeling.

Bracing herself on an elbow and seeing his emotional state, Fuu stroked his cheek and kissed him tenderly, understanding. That was all it took to break his control. A tear escaped his eye as he sucked in a great breath, trying to breathe through the squeezing pressure on his heart. The harder he fought them, the harder the tears came.

Sitting up, Fuu pulled him into her arms and held him as he cried, probably for the first time in his memory. He hadn't even cried when she died, though it had been close. As she stroked his hair and said soothing words he couldn't pay attention to, he let out a lifetimes worth of tears he'd bottled inside, clamped down so hard he was sure it would never resurface.

Once again he thought that she was too good for him. He didn't deserve her. He didn't completely understand why she loved him. But she was the first thing that was so good in his life. He _had_ to be suspicious of it. But he didn't want to be anymore. He was weary of it.

And here she was, holding and comforting him while he blubbered like a pansy idiot, and she understood why he cried. She would never make fun of him for crying. Why did she understand him so much and accept him so easily? He felt he could trust her, and he could never trust anyone, except to trust them to let him die by the wayside if he had allowed it.

When the tears finally slowed and ended, he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from him, one he hadn't known existed. He laughed at how ridiculous he must look; this tough badass killer crying his face off like some sissy girl. But he couldn't help it. Feeling her cool hands brushing the tears off his face, he held her hand on his face. "I love you, you know." He murmured; his voice still thick with emotion. "I love _you_." She kissed him soft and light and he felt as if some cut in him he hadn't known existed had started to heal. "I'm sorry, but don't ever leave me." He whispered so softly she had to strain to hear. It struck her hard in the heart. "Never." She whispered back fiercely.

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Hope you all liked that.

I always get nervous about writing Mugen 'ooc' because I keep wondering if he is actually ooc (like, too ooc), but _I_ think he is in character since he's decided to just lay it down as straight as he is able to (with the way he is) for fuu because he's done with secrets with her, because she loves him and all that stuff.

Here's a fuugen music video I watch when I need inspiration for the love parts (or for when I just want to melt like a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie ^^) : www dot youtube dot com slash watch?v=EMy82A42ucA ((Its not letting me put in the proper address, so the dots and slashes are words,except after 'watch'. I don't know why that part keeps the format.))

I was doing research about how people got married in the edo period, but all I'm seeing is stuff about the ceremony, not the legal stuff (if theres anything). I'll probably make some stuff up.

And theres plenty about divorce. From what I've read, women divorced their men almost as much as them men initiated divorce, sometimes in order for her to be with another guy. Its seems that in most cases the couple agreed and signed the divorce. So a case like Shino's where he wouldn't grant a divorce and she had to go to the 'divorce shrine' wasn't as common as it seemed, or being tied to some guy who was an ass.

Currency terms:

koban: Those oval gold coins in the show. Its the second largest coin used in edo japan, but the larges 'common' coin. I was worth a Ryo, which is worth 4,000 mon, if that clarifies it for you. (The largest coin was the Oban, which was worth 10 Ryo; aka 10 koban.)

nibuban: A rectangular gold coin worth half of a koban (2,000 mon).

ichibuban: a rectangular gold or silver coin worth a quarter of a koban (1,000 mon).

nishuban and isshuban: Small coins worth more than mon, but not as much as Nibuban or ichibuban (but I'm not sure what they are worth)

mon: a cheap round bronze coin introduced from china. It had a hole in the center and people would string them together on rope like beads.

A big thank you to my reviewers! I finally realized I wasn't responding here to you guys like I used to! Sorry! I was so preoccupied I forgot. (And I might forget to address you guys individually again tbh. *^^) But I read and appreciate every one of your reviews. Thank you guys!


	24. Chapter 24: Fight

Chapter 24: Fight

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Warning: Lemons

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"Don't you dare tell four eyes I cried. He'll never let me forget it. Plus he'll think I'm going soft." They were putting back on their clothing in the stunted light in the storehouse. "Aren't you? What's wrong with that?" Fuu asked quietly. Mugen ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to explain so she understood. "If I go soft, I could get killed and can't protect you. That's _my_ job." He frowned. "Doesn't matter though. It's too late; I'm already going soft thanks to you." He glared slightly at her, accusingly. She was about to respond, but he held a finger to her lips. "It don't matter. I was tired of holding it all in anyway, I just had no idea 'till now. But if you betray me, I'll kill you." He said matter-of-factly. "You mean if I cheat on you or something?" Fuu giggled. She couldn't imagine doing that. He didn't answer right away. "That and other things." He pushed her face away from him with his hand, looking away from her. Did he mean if she told his secrets and shared out that he did care about stuff, unlike what he pretended? She didn't press him, but wouldn't be surprised if this were true. It was surprising enough that he opened up so much to her; he must be feeling embarrassed. "I'll keep your secrets, don't worry. I've got your back." He grunted to show he'd heard her, but didn't respond. The convict didn't know what to say. He still didn't understand a world where someone was so willing to stand by his side and support him. It was as if he was buzzing on fancy alcohol, floating on air, but the world he knew was upside down. It didn't feel real. But it was as if he was so far gone that he just didn't care. He expected to come down and the world to be its normal shitty self at any minute. For now though, he decided to just ride the feeling while it lasted.

So he smiled at her instead of ignoring her words and kissed her long and sweet to let her know how it had made him feel. He could feel a distant part of him shaking its head at his foolishness. It made him grin.

By now it was pitch black in the room. Yawning, Mugen pulled Fuu to the floor with him and he lay down, holding her in his arms. She settled back against him and closed her eyes smiling peacefully, content.

When they rejoined the new priest and the ronin the next day, Mugen was straight-faced again. "We getting the fuck out of here or what?" He asked them, not caring where Jin had slept. "Mmm." The ronin agreed with his question which he recognized as a statement, not a real question. "Let me grab my things." Hirotori Shiro was off like a rocket before anyone could react and returned within minutes, a sack-like bag slung across his chest by its rope strap, a conical reed hat on his head and a wooden staff in his hands. "That staff looks ghetto for a priest." "It's just a walking staff, not a priest's staff. And I believe you are thinking of a Buddhist priest's staff which is called a Khakkhara. Shinto priests don't usually carry one." Hirotori told Mugen, amused for all he didn't look it.

Mugen shrugged. He took Fuu's hand and led their way out of the shrine's compound and back onto the road they had traveled. Then he stopped abruptly when Jin 'Hmm'ed loudly at him. He whirled around, realizing what the ronin wanted to convey. "Four-eyes is right. You forgot to pay us the first half." "Oh right. My apologies." The new priest pulled out a ridiculous amount of coins and counted them out before holding them out in his close-fisted hand. Mugen snorted. 'Must be a noble's brat.' "Fuu." He motioned to her. Fuu opened her little drawstring purse and let the young man dump the coins inside. She counted them and gasped, turning pale. "This is _half_?" If she had even this much money when her mother was sick, she'd never have to worry about paying for medicine again. At Mugen's questioning look, she mouthed behind her hand 'Too much'. "Is it too little? I've never hired bodyguards before." "Nah kid, it'll do. Give Jin his share now, girly." She counted out a third and gave it to her friend. She was about to give Mugen his share, but he stopped her. "You hang onto the funds." She looked at him, surprised. They had always kept their money separate on this journey to date. On her first trip with the young men to find the sunflower samurai, they had often had her keep the money, but this was mostly because she insisted they would blow it all something stupid if she didn't (and by 'they', she mostly meant Mugen). They figured it was better to give in than to listen to her go on and on about how they would waste it all.

"Close yer mouth, you'll catch flies." Mugen grinned at her expression. Fuu shut her mouth firmly before opening it again, frowning at him. "Why?" He shrugged. "Why not? Just don't rob me." He graced her with his sardonic smile. Then he rounded on the priest again. "And you better not be an assassin in disguise or something." If Hirotori thought this was an odd statement, he didn't show it. "I am no assassin; I'm just a new priest on my way to my appointed shrine. I promise I mean you no harm." He said gravely. "Good, 'cus _my_ promise is right here." The vagrant tapped the hilt of his sword. "Come on." He grabbed Fuu's hand again and resumed walking south-west.

The young woman wondered about Mugen giving her the funds to look after. It felt very couple-ish, but she wasn't used to Mugen treating her like they were a thing when it came to normal little things couples seemed to do. Or at least what she imagined they did. Like keeping their money together. She shrugged.

Then she looked behind her at the priest, but he didn't seem upset by Mugen's threat. Turning her face back to the road, she wondered if he was trained not to react as a priest, or if he was just a calm person, or if he was a bit slow or something. But soon she forgot about him as they wandered the roads of Tsuruga. The merchants there hawked everything from lacquer hair ornaments to cooking pots to food and sweets. She eyed the fish-shaped, sweet bean filled waffle cake called Taiyaki and drooled, tempted to buy one. It wasn't until then that she realized they hadn't eaten since yesterday.

Seeing what she was looking at, Mugen snorted. He ordered four but Hirotori handed the vendor some coins before the vagrant could reach for his. As the vendor handed back the priest's change, the young man handed the treats to each of them. "Maybe I wasn't clear before. I was too excited to get lucky and find bodyguards so easily. But I'm paying for food and lodging on the way as well." Mugen's eyebrow shot up. "Why are you so rich?" Fuu blurted, her mouth full. "Speak or eat porky." She glared at him and swallowed her mouthful. Hirotori's expression went blank and he didn't speak for so long, Fuu thought he wasn't going to answer. Just when she was about to apologize for prying, he spoke quietly, as if choosing his words; "I'm the bastard son of a lord. He sends me money." He shrugged almost imperceptibly. "Boo hoo kid." Mugen didn't like little pansy kids that thought they had it bad when they were rolling in cash and living it up. There were way worse things. And a man should make his own destiny with his own two hands, not sit like a tame dog waiting for its master to feed it. He couldn't respect men like that.

Hirotori surprised them all by grabbing Mugen by the shirt, a move that would have had him knocked unconscious or sliced in two, if Fuu hadn't instinctually put a hand on his arm to stop the vagrant. "I know what you're thinking. But you're wrong! You don't know what it's like to have a father who is never there because he doesn't want to associate with me, but he tries to alleviate his guilt about that by tossing money at me like I'm something that can be swept under the carpet! I'm his shame, so he hides me away training to be a priest and then has me sent to a shrine in the middle of nowhere so he doesn't have to think about me!" Mugen knocked the young man's hands away easily. "Don't you _ever_ grab me again." Mugen snarled at him. "If she hadn't stopped me, you would be dead by now. I don't give a fig if you're paying me." "Be nice to him." Jin glared at Mugen, surprising his friends. He walked off ahead of them angrily. Mugen walked after him. "But you would have done the same if some guy grabbed you."

As they moved off out of her hearing, Fuu turned to the priest. "If he's the one who wants you to be a priest, why are you doing what he wants? You don't _have_ to go to work at a shrine in the middle of nowhere." The look on the young man's face turned from anger to resignation. He sighed. "He _is _my father." He began to walk after the two swordsmen.

Fuu understood. Mugen despised people who were unhappy with their lot when it was so much more than he'd ever had, but Fuu had a father before he had died. She understood the priest's anger at the man who neglected him and left him alone as he grew up. But she didn't understand why Jin had gotten mad a Mugen. She still didn't know much about his past, but if her intuition wasn't wrong, it had sounded like Jin could relate to the priest's story and what Mugen had said struck a nerve with him. The ronin never said anything about his past, but Fuu knew he had been training to be a samurai before he had killed his master. Did he know who his parents were, or was he orphaned like Mugen? Jin's comment sounded like he experienced something similar to Hirotori. She wished she could ask the man himself, but she doubted he'd tell her what she wanted to know, even now when they were good friends.

She caught up with the trio just as Mugen had stopped and turned, frowning as he realized she had been far behind them. "If you get kidnapped again, I'm going to get pissed." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "We need to buy paper, a brush and some ink." "Don't change the subject!" Mugen foot paused in midair as he was about to kick a rock in the road. "Wait. Why do we need those things?" He looked at her suspiciously. "So we can write a marriage contract or whatever it is. Geez Mugen. Unless you want to wait until it's too late, again."

The vagrant grabbed her cheeks in between his palms, looking nearly furious. "Frigg that!" he murmured lowly. For a second she thought he was going to kiss her, but then he let go of her face and turned around and left her standing there, missing his nearness, as he looked around the bustling street and began studying what was being sold. He crossed the street indiscriminately; shoving people out of the way if they didn't move fast enough for him.

The trio watched him from where they stood. "Your fiancé is quite eager, isn't he?" No one stopped watching Mugen. Fuu nodded. "Hn." Jin said at the same time.

They watched as a kid started crying when Mugen knocked into him as he found what he was looking for. Fuu was about to go apologize to the mother who looked angry, but then Mugen was back. He swatted her head lightly with a handful of sheets of paper, grinning. Hirotori was about to reach in his bag for money to reimburse the vagrant, but Fuu signaled him to stop and held out her hand to accept the ink brushes and ink from Mugen. "Not this time." She muttered to the priest, before smacking her fiancé in the chest. "Whaat?" He complained as he rubbed the spot. She pointed at the squalling child. "You got to be more careful around little kids." "Pfft. Who cares?" "Oh, so you don't care about other people's kids… just _yours_?"

Mugen's face went pale with shock as if he had been punched. Then his expression went completely blank. But the air around him went ice cold. Fuu gasped and covered her mouth. She knew losing Rie was as much of a hard thing for him as for her. She knew, and she still used his pain to insult him. He had shown his vulnerable side to her which he never did normally and she had used it against him. This was probably one of the worst things she could have done to him. "I'm…I'm sorry." She mumbled, putting her hand on his arm. He shrugged, pulling away, and handed her the paper. "Right." He walked away up the road. "Mugen…wait." She ran after him.

Jin watched them go, stopping the priest when he made to follow. "Leave them." "But..." "We'll meet up again." Hirotori looked doubtful about them meeting up again, but he shrugged. The ronin knew them better then him. He wasn't in a great hurry, but he wondered privately if the whole trip's pace would be dictated by the couple's quarrels and copulation.

"Would you wait?!" Fuu panted, trying to keep up with Mugen's longer strides. At least he wasn't running, or she couldn't keep up. "Stop running away!" He suddenly spun around, eyes blazing. "I _ain't_ running away!" He was suddenly towering over her, as menacing as he'd ever been. Fuu should have been afraid…part of her _was_ afraid…but she felt she deserved his anger. She stood there looking at her tall, wolf of a man. Why couldn't she shut her mouth sometimes? "I'm sorry." Her eyes swept down to her shoes, as large tears formed in them and fell to the stones on the road in front of her.

She heard an angry sigh and her face was pulled up by large hands to meet his eyes. "You dumb broad. I hate it when you do that." He brushed a tear away with his thumb. "You think that by saying 'sorry', it'll fix things? That was some fucked up shit, Fuu!" He was angry again. Pacing, he ran his hand though his hair 'till it stood at odd angles. He seemed to be searching for the words he wanted to say. She waited for his words to fall on her like blows, her eyes falling back onto the floor. "No, look at _me_, god damn it!" She glanced up at him uncertainly. "You can't just…you can't just go around saying shit like that to me you know! You crossed the god damned line! If you were anyone else, I would snap your neck for that." He glared at her. She nodded contritely. She felt so shitty about it; she wished he would just to spare her from her own guilt.

But all that didn't prepare her for how her blood ran cold at his next words. "How can I marry someone I can't trust? I was starting to think I could trust you. How could you say that to me? After…after…everything?" He stopped pacing and stood there, tension in every line of his body as he looked at her. Then he continued on without waiting for a response. "Maybe it's better this way. It was asinine to think I could trust anyone I this shithole life. It was better before."

But this last pissed her off. It was amplified by her fear at his hint he was going to leave her. "It was _better_ before? Better to live alone and fight and die alone with only booze and cheap whores for company?" "It was simpler! Easier!" He growled, suddenly nose to nose with her. "I didn't have you getting under my skin and messing with me!" The fight went out of her suddenly. She grabbed his sleeve. "Don't go. _Please_." She leaned into him. "I messed up. I'm dumb, like you said. I won't do it again!" Mugen surprised her by grinning suddenly. "At least you finally admit that yer dumb." Then he sighed and looked up at the sky. "Yer such a pain in the ass, woman." He gripped her chin in his hand and kissed her. "I ain't leaving yer ass. I should, but I can't seem to." His eyes flashed angrily; at her or at himself was anyone's guess. Fuu hugged him tightly and kissed him happily. "Yeah yeah." He murmured in between kisses. "Enough with the touchy feely shit." "Oh so your saying you don't like being touched?" Fuu grinned mischievously, giving him a suggestive look. She ran her hand across his chest. "You don't want to be …rubbed….anywhere?" she leaned in as if to kiss him, but held a few millimeters from his mouth and gazed into his eyes, feigning an innocent look. "You bitch." He groaned. "This is why you'll be the death of me." He cupped her ass in his hands and drew her closer. "So teach me how to use my tanto and I can watch your back if you're distracted." "I'll think about it." He rubbed circles on her rear with his rough thumb. "Good." Fuu rubbed her knee against his groin.

That was all it took for Mugen to pull her into the nearest alley. Then he was pressing his heat against her, as he groped for the lower hemline of her kimono. Unmercifully, Fuu had her hands in his pants before he could move aside any offending articles of clothing, and stroked his now rock hard shaft in her hand in a way that made it hard to concentrate. He shoved two fingers in her even though it was something else he wanted to use more, and rubbed her till she felt herself growing unbearably wet. His other hand traced her skin upwards to her breasts. He grabbed one and fondled it while skimming the nipple with his thumb. Fuu moaned, and Mugen kissed her, plundering her mouth with his tongue. Then he removed his fingers from her and entered her slowly, savoring the feeling of her and the way she tightened around him. He kissed her neck and sucked on her earlobe before pulling back to ram into her. After that, he couldn't hold back. He thrust into her with the force of a tsunami, spurred on by her moaning and lewd requests for more. He lifted her leg to rest on his hip, to get deeper access to her. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Grinning, he began to barrel roll her with his hips. She gasped and came intensely, tightening hard on his shaft. His eyes wide in surprise at its suddenness and intensity, he came hard, groaning into her neck. "Fuck Fuu." Licking some sweat off her neck, he grinned. "You are a minx." She just moaned a little in response to his tongue on her flushed skin.

When he pulled out, she made to stop him, but he turned her so she was facing the wall. "What are you doing?" She whined; wanting him in her again, not doing whatever it was he thought he was doing. She was also a bit hesitant because this was Mugen and he was unpredictable at times. "How else can we do anal?"

Fuu blanched and tried to turn around. "What? No! I…I…didn't say yes yet." He held her in that position, but gently for him. "Don't knock something till you try it." He rubbed his lean, muscled body against her backside slowly, teasing her as he lightly rubbed his genitals on the inside of her thigh, making thinking hard. "Besides, consider it punishment." He whispered huskily into her ear. She shivered with need. "You can't blackmail me like that! What if it hurts?" "I never got complaints before." She stiffened, but before she could react, he whispered in her ear. "Doesn't feel good does it? It's not even on the same level but that's kinda, sorta, a little bit like how what you said made me feel. Shitty." He rubbed her arm gently, non-sexually. "I'm not blackmailing you and you can say no. I may be a beast, but not that kind of beast." He kissed her neck. "I'm just hoping you'll say yes." He slid his tongue down her neck from her ear about halfway down. Oh god, she wanted to say yes to anything when he licked her like that. His arms encircled her as his left hand skimmed her belly and his right hand slid past it to caress her inner thigh. She moaned as her juice flowed down her upper leg. "What do you think?" He was practically holding her up; as she was so turned on her eyes were glazing and she could hardly stand. She nodded. "Mmm hmm." "I take that for a yes." He grinned into her neck. She nodded again.

The criminal pulled her hips towards him as he slid his penis between her legs. He rubbed her in her folds a couple of times, getting her juice on him, before spreading he cheeks for easier access. She tensed automatically. "Try to relax. If it does hurt, it'll probably hurt more if you don't tense up. I'll go slow." Fuu willed herself to relax as his large cock pressed against her anus. "Oh my god." "Relax girly. Breathe." He said into her ear. He reached around and stimulated her clit once, then pushed the head in her while stroking her core again. "Uhh." He stopped. "You okay?" "Y…yeah. It feels weird." "Doesn't hurt?" She shook her head. "'K then." He pushed in about halfway down his length. She didn't scream, he felt her tense up considerably. "It so tight." She exhaled. "Well, if it ain't hurting, I'ma go all the way in. Okay?" After a pause, she nodded. "'K then." He pushed in to the hilt and waited again as she grunted. "Well?" "It hurts a little, but it's not bad." "Wanna stop?" He was getting impatient, but knew better than to rush her. "No. Will this hurt more?" He shrugged. "I think there's enough lube to keep it from being too bad if you ain't screaming now." She nodded again, which he took as her consent to continue. He pulled out to the head before ramming it in her. She gasped a little, but didn't cry out, so he assumed it was fine. Then he held her pressed against him as he rammed into her in his rough way. His thumb lazily circled and stroked her clit as he rode her harder and harder and harder until he came; a hot sticky flood that spurted back down his shaft, pooling at his belly and dribbling down his leg. He withdrew from her and shoved his fingers in her vagina, making her cum. He held her up, as her legs couldn't support her. "I forgive you." He whispered into her ear. Then he turned her around to face him and kissed her soundly. "Just _don't_ do it again." She nodded weakly.

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Hi all. I wrote this and the next chapter on a writing spurt, but I've moved and had to deal starting school again since I last posted. Thing were up in the air for a long while, but I think I've gotten into the rhythm of my new schedule. Still, I'll be quite busy until january, though I will try to keep posting a chapter a month. You all are going to love next chapter. ^.^ See you laters. Love you.

Oh and please rate and review!


	25. Chapter 25: A rare reason to celebrate

Chapter 25

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Warning: subject matter that may disturb some.

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Fuu had just finished putting back on her loincloth and rewinding and tying the strip of cloth she bound her boobs with, when a backdoor opened in the ally and a big potbellied man came out holding a bucket of fish innards. Fuu screeched in shock and hastily rushed to get into her juban and kimono. "This ain't no brothel!" Roared the man, his face turning bright red in anger. "Sorry!" Fuu bowed hastily, then grabbed Mugen by the wrist and pulled him out of the alley as fast as she could.

"Oh my god. _That_ was mortifying." "Relax your titties girly. He won't remember you if we ever see him again." Somehow the grinning Mugen was fully clothed, including his shoes and sword. "And we better not, or I'll kill him." His look darkened. "Why?" Mugen sighed. "Yer so thick sometimes." He eyed her clothing angrily. "'Cus he saw you in your skivvies. Get that damned kimono closed properly!" He growled. Not waiting for her, he pulled her closer, roughly grabbed the obi from her hands and tied it around her waist. Fuu blushed at his possessiveness and then smiled quietly to herself happily.

Taking her hand, he led her down the street. "Let's grab some grub. I'm starved." Mugen eyed the restaurants he saw on the street and picked one at random. Once they had ordered and were waiting for the food, the vagrant spoke again. "D'you still have the ink and paper?" "What paper?" Mugen sighed and patted her forehead. "The paper to write the marriage contract. Jeez. I don't like putting shit off, and we've done that enough already." Fuu checked her purse, but it wasn't there. She grimaced. "Oh yeah. I gave them to Jin when I ran after you." "Great job girly." He told her dryly. "Well, we probably would need witnesses to sign the contract too, and I don't feel right about Jin not being at the wedding party. Besides, what fun would it be to celebrate alone?" "I can think of some fun things we can do alone." Mugen smirked. "I bet."

Fuu winced a bit. Mugen had thought he had been imagining that Fuu was moving slightly from time to time in her seat as if she were uncomfortable, but he was convinced when she winced. "You alright?" She shrugged. "It hurts a bit." "Hurts?" Then the he got her meaning. "You mean from me? Before?" Face red, she nodded and looked away. "Yer not bleeding or anything?" He pretended not be alarmed. "I don't know. I don't think so." "I want to check." "No way!" Fuu's palms slapped the table as she stood up, making the cutlery and cups rattle. A couple of people looked to where the sudden noise was coming from. She lowered her voice and sat back down. "I'll be fine." Mugen looked at her stubborn glare. "I'm checkin' when we get to an inn if I gotta drag you there. But let's eat first." He eyed the steaming plates and bowls of food that the waiter brought over. "Fine." Fuu eyed the food greedily, no longer paying attention. The minute the food hit the table, the pair ate with the speed and gusto of a sprinter doing a marathon.

They didn't notice a pair of men walk in the restaurant, point in their direction to the seating waitress, walk over and sit down until one spoke. "We meet again." The ronin eyed them. "Jeez, four-eyes. Couldn't lose you if we wanted to." Mugen said, his mouth full. "Mmm." Jin gave the Shinto priest a look as if to say 'See?'. He didn't bother telling the vagrant to not talk with his mouth full, knowing the man wouldn't care or listen. He hoped that one day Fuu could bully some good manners into him. Just a few, please Kami.

The two men ordered when the waitress returned to the table and soon they too were chowing down, if at more normal speeds than their companions. Jin noted that the couple seemed back to normal, for which he was glad. He hadn't ben sure that the criminal would ever forgive her when he saw the man's reaction to her words. Jin had been languishing in a fat lord's dungeon when Fuu had lost her first child to a miscarriage and had, according to them, died and then miraculously came back to life, so he didn't witness the man's reaction to those events, but he could guess those words she had spoken about their dead child would be harsh by anyone's standards. But they were both hotheads, and they could no more not fight than they could seemingly not love each other with equal passion. However, the ronin still found it startling that Mugen had forgiven the girl, for all he was glad. The vagrant was not known for his forgiving manner.

When they finished eating and the priest had paid, they walked back on the road southwest. At some point, Mugen swore. "Fuck it, we are finding an inn _now_." The others looked at him in surprise. But Fuu understood why. "No. I'm fine. I can keep going." "Fuck that girly, yer almost limpin'." With that he scooped her up. "Better?" Embarrassed, she looked into her lap, but nodded. "What is wrong? Are you ill?" Asked the ronin. "Does she need a doctor?" asked the priest. Mugen startled them by turning red. "She better not need a doc! Now shut up you two!" He roared at them. Then he was off, bee lining for the nearest inn. The men followed. They would have followed the pair into their inn room as they peppered them with questions. Fuu just covered her face in her hands, completely unwilling to admit out loud why she was hurting. He set her down gently, and then shoved the men out forcefully. "Out! Call for a doctor just in case. Kami damn it all!" And shut the door in their faces.

"Now show me." "Oh my god Mugen, it's not a big deal. I'll probably be fine if I rest." He strode over to her. "Don't fuck with me girly. If there's something wrong, I gotta know or else how we gonna try and fix it?" She tried being flippant. "You just want an excuse to touch my ass." "You know you can't check for yourself. Take off your shit. _Now_." She sighed and slowly took off her loincloth and hitched up her kimono and juban, mentally bracing herself as she didn't expect this to be any kind of fun. She hoped to Kami she wouldn't have to explain to anyone else the nature of her distress. Especially Jin. She would die of embarrassment.

Mugen's hands were gentle as he spread her cheeks apart. "Ouch." "Sorry girly." He examined her for a bit. "Yer not bleedin', but I ain't a doc, so I dunno if anythings wrong or not." "I don't want a doctor checking me up there. Its hard enough when you do it, and you've seen me naked a bunch of times." She wrapped her juban around her. "Trust me babe, I don't like the thought of anyone seeing any bit of you naked or touching you, but if he can tell us whats what, I'm going to have to let it happen. But he'd better watch himself." There was a knock on the door. "Oh god." Fuu moaned. Mugen let in the doctor, but barred Jin and the priest from coming in again and shut the door.

"Whats wrong, miss..?" "Fuu." She looked at Mugen. "Your friend said you were limping." "An she can't sit right, she gets all fidgety." The doctor looked at him. "And you are?" "I'm her fiancé." The vagrant stared at him as if in challenge. "Right. So what happened to cause you to limp." "We…" The criminal began. But Fuu cut him off. "_Oh my god_. Shut up Mugen! This is embarrassing as it is. Let _me_ say it at least!" The doctor looked from once to the other, assessing their words and reactions. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I need to know. Have you been having anal intercourse?" "Inter- what?" Mugen scratched his head. "Anal sex." The doctor clarified. Fuu turned red and mumbled "Yes.". Mugen face was impassive, but if Fuu had been looking at him, she would have been able to tell that his face was a bit strained. "Please remove your clothing so I may have a look." Mugen growled a little as Fuu reluctantly opened her juban. The doctor took some instruments out of his bag. "It won't hurt, will it?" Fuu eyed them nervously. "It may, but not due to what I will do. At best that will cause discomfort. Shall we begin?" Fuu nodded. The minute the doctor put a gloved hand on her backside, Mugen began pacing and refused to look, knowing he'd rip the man apart if he saw any more.

It was hard not looking as she winced audibly a couple of times and gasped once, but Mugen didn't trust himself to not kill the doctor, though he was only dong his job, so he forced himself not to look. Finally they were done. "You can put you clothes back on Miss Fuu." She fixed her clothes properly as Mugen looked at them. "Well?" He asked impatiently. "Was this your first experience, Miss Fuu?" "Yes." The doctor nodded. "You'll be fine. You have a couple of minor tears in the lining of the anus, but that can happen. My recommendation is to refrain from anal penetration until the pain goes away. That should happen from a few hours to a few days after. If the pain goes on longer than two day, consult a doctor. You might be sore a bit longer than that however, but there shouldn't be actual pain." "So…I wasn't too rough?" Mugen blurted. Fuu had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud at his outburst. His worrying was endearing. "No, Mr.…" "Mugen." "She would have been in a lot more pain and possibly bleeding if you were, most especially seeing as it was her first try." "Thanks." Fuu got up and saw the doctor out. "Your very welcome Miss." He accepted her money and left the inn. Jin and Hirotori looked in. "May we enter?" Asked the ronin, concerned. "Yeah, yeah. Get yer asses in." He shut the door behind them as Fuu winced at his choice of words. "What did the doctor say?" Jin asked. Fuu looked at Mugen meaningfully. He shrugged. "I had cut my leg in a place I can't see easily. The doctor said I'd be limping for a bit, and sitting funny, but it should be fine in a few days on its own." "That's good." Hirotori said. He liked her and he had actually been worried for her when Mugen had shut them out, thinking it had been more serious.

Mugen would have normally rolled his eyes at her need to not say what was what sometimes, but he particularly didn't want Jin finding out that he was the cause of her discomfort. He didn't fear the man's potential wrath or anything, it was just that he had hurt her, though he hadn't meant to, and he didn't want the ronin to know. Somehow the thought of the ronin knowing was embarrassing. He had sworn to protect her. Maybe never aloud, but he and the ronin had made the same non-verbal promise to keep her safe, a promise he intended to keep for as long as he lived.

"Okay, she's good, so let's sign this thing. Jin; where's the paper 'n stuff?" Fuu laughed at his eagerness. It took Jin a minute to remember what Mugen was referring to, but then he produced the paper, miraculously unbroken ink pot and the bunch of brushes Mugen had bought earlier from his sleeves. Fuu took a brush and dipped it into the ink. "What should I write?" "I dunno." Mugen looked at the others. "'I, Kasumi Fuu, agree on this sixteenth day of the sixth month, to marry Mugen (no last name) for all time.' Then sign your name." She stared at Jin, and then began to hastily write what he said. At Mugen's look, he said simply. "I attended a wedding once." Once Fuu was done, she looked at the ronin expectantly. "Since Mugen has trouble writing, you may write for him. It's the same, with his name in place of yours and vice versa. Then he signs." Mugen grinned and grabbed the brush just as Fuu finished the words. He drew an infinity symbol. "Now what?" "It needs two witnesses, so we sign." He did so as he spoke then handed the brush to Hirotori, who signed as well. "You don't have a bride price, or you would have written that in the contract." "A whatsits?" Asked Mugen. "A bride price is a collection of goods the woman's family set aside for her to give to the groom. It's also known as a dowry. The man must return it if he and his wife get divorced." "No. After mother died, what little we had was used to pay for her burial." Fuu told Jin. Without realizing he did it, Mugen took her hand and began stroking it lightly. She smiled. "Well, we are married now. I wish I could've gotten dressed up for it, but it's okay." She smiled at Mugen. "Like hell it is. Give us some money for some clothes for her." He put out his hand to the priest. "Mugen, we can't…" Hirotori stopped her. "It's alright. I've never been to a friend's wedding before. I'd like to help." He counted out some coins. "A friend huh?" Mugen muttered as Fuu squealed and hugged the priest who blushed. "Hey Fuu, you married _me_, remember?" Mugen frowned at her. She let go of the priest and gave him a look that made him want to kick out the others _right now_. "I remember." "Hot damn." He muttered.

Jin stood. "I'll take her." Fuu smiled and got up. "You two buy some cake and sweets and some more substantial food for the main course." "Why cake? Yer so girly." Mugen grinned. "It's traditional." Jin replied. "Fine! Cake it is. What's_ traditional_?" Mugen sneered. "Whenever is common to the area." Jin responded. "Anything sweet is fine." Fuu put a hand on Mugen's and he relaxed. "It's yer cake." Was all he said. "Ours." She smiled warmly at him. Then she left with Jin and he and the priest walked the city in search of the food.

Mugen was steel reeling from that tipsy way she made him feel when she looked at him like that, and thinking that maybe it was worth not calling it off, when Hirotori spoke. "You seem a bit possessive. Why did you let Jin take her shopping?" Hirotori asked him. Mugen shrugged. "I know he'll watch her back and not bother her. Also, I'd go bored stiff watching her shop or else I'd be taking her every time she changed most likely, and the food will go cold by the time return." The priest raised an eye. "That's…considerate." At this, Mugen laughed. "Yeah, that's me; Mr. Considerate."

They arrived with the food and set up in Jin and Hirotori's room, so Fuu could change in hers when she returned. When they finished setting up the food, the priest eyed the vagrants clothing. "Are you planning on wearing _that_?" "What?" Mugen looked at himself. "Women have this idea about what they want on their wedding day, and it usually includes a washed husband to be in a nice, clean outfit." Mugen scratched his head, slightly annoyed and thinking it was dumb. "How do you know?" "I've seen weddings too." The priest shrugged. Mugen thought about Fuu. Then he frowned. Yeah, that was probably something she wanted too. She was so sappy. She'd probably not say it to him, but then hold it over his head…_forever_… if he didn't. "Guess it can't be helped." The vagrant shrugged. Smiling, the priest pulled out the cleanest, most expensive looking clothes he'd ever seen of one of the bags they'd carried the food home in. There was a navy haori, a grey hakama and monsuki, an obi that was white and much less wide than Fuu's ever were, a date-eri and a juban. The enable was completed with white tabi and seta sandals. "You got to be fucking with me. That's a shit ton of clothes. And I'll look like such a pansy." Hirotori used the only weakness the man seemed to have on him for Fuu's sake. He'd come to like her, and wanted to help her have the wedding he felt she deserved. "Well, I think Fuu will think you look good in it." The vagrant sighed in defeat. "Ok. But I don't know what goes where." "No problem. Go take a bath and put on this." He held out the Juban. "I'll help you with the rest." "You really are a lord's brat." Mugen murmured. "Don't call me that, or I won't help you. _Out_!" He glared a little at the man. "Geez. Yer starting to sound like Fuu." Mugen shook his head and took the juban, then headed towards the adjacent bathhouse.

After he had bathed and returned, Hirotori helped him with the rest of the clothes like he'd promised. But Mugen had drawn the line at brushing his hair. There was no way he was doing that, wedding or no. The criminal felt stupid wearing this getup, but whatever. This was for that brat. He wanted to see if what the priest said was true. It would probably surprise her at least, and that would be fun to witness. He was sitting there, bored as hell, hoping the food wasn't going to be too cold, when Jin came in followed by Fuu.

Mugen's jaw dropped. She was wearing a red silk kimono with sleeves that were wider than her usual kimonos. White birds were stitched into the lower right just above the bottom hem. Under this she wore an orange kimono and the white juban peeked out beneath these. The obi was copper colored silk. She was made up with kohl on her eyelashes and eyelids and red ochre painted on her lips. Her hair was up in its usual hairdo, but with red chopsticks and a red comb in her hair. His manhood sprang to life, as he suddenly imagined kissing those plump, ruby red lips. The soft, pale flesh at her neck begged him to taste it. Before his mind could wander, he shook his head and told himself that this wedding party thing was probably important to her, so he should cool it for a while. He could tear her clothes off later. If nothing else, it was their wedding night after all.

He stood up and took her hand. "Damn, girly." He murmured in her ear before leading her to a seat at the low table, which was piled with food. She grinned at his words and sat with him. Jin shut the door and took his place. "You got sake?" Fuu asked, surprised. Mugen had hardly drank on their whole journey so far, a rarity for the vagrant. "It _is_ a party." He commented dryly. "Fuu, Mugan. I haven't known you well, but I wish you a long and happy life together." The priest said. Fuu blushed. "Oh we're toasting already. Great." Mugen opened the sake and poured them all cups on the stuff. "Thank you Hirotori. But Mugen, I think we should wait till we've eaten a bit." "Loosen your obi girly. It is a party. What, do you have to work tomorrow?" He smirked, knowing that of course she didn't. "Fine." The four of them raised their glasses and drank. Then they dug into the dinner like a pack of starved hounds. Hirotori was learning quickly to take his share, or risk not getting to eat enough. When they'd slowed and Hirotori cut the cake they'd found, Jin raised his glass. "Congratulations on your marriage." Mugen grinned and raised his glass. Soon the food was mostly gone and they had finished four out of the five sake bottles Mugen bought. Jin was red-cheeked and looking sleepy. The priest hadn't drunk except during the two toasts. Mugen had been swimming through the stuff like a thirsty fish, and even Fuu was tipsy, border lining drunk.

So when the first fireworks lit up the sky and music suddenly began to play in the streets, everyone except Jin, who was asleep by now, jumped a little and looked at the sky for a minute. "Fireworks!" Fuu jumped up excitedly and ran to the window, almost tripping over the table in her tipsy haste. Mugen rolled his eyes at her, but he liked to see her so happy. That topped by his buzz was making things very nice. He usually didn't trust feeling so happy, but when it came to her, it happened more and more often. So he shrugged and accepted it that she made him happy.

"We can go out to see them." Mugen offered. He was gratified when a giant smile escaped those lips. Then Fuu looked at Jin. "Four-eyes will be fine. He'll just sleep." "I can watch him, if that will make you feel better Fuu." Fuu smiled at Hirotori gratefully. "Geez." Mugen frowned. It was his job to make her smile, not some priest they picked up like a stray. A stray that was rich and that payed them at least. But Mugen was unwilling to let the priest take her or let her wander around in her tipsy state. Even drunk, Mugen had more presence of mind than she had right now. Not to mention; she had a penchant for getting kidnapped. "Come on then."

Down on the streets people milled around them, vying to see the fireworks through the throng of bodies. Fuu kept jumping to see above their heads, without luck. Mugen appraised the scene for a moment, then grabbed her hand and dragged her to a large set of doors, shoving people bodily out of the way. He kicked the doors open and dragged her inside. The manager of the establishment rushed forwards angrily. "What are you doi…?" The man fell silent as Mugen leveled his sword at him. "Please go ahead sir." Mugen grinned and dragged her through the dinning patrons to the back where a large staircase climbed upwards. People peered out of rooms on the second floor, but Mugen pulled her to a smaller set of wood stairs upwards, ignoring everything but his destination. The next floor was a wood attic. "Where…?" But Mugen was dragging her to a ladder he'd spotted in the corner, behind some stacks of wooden crates cover in cloth. Above it was a square hatch. Mugen led the way, busting through the wood like it was paper, and then he pulled her up.

The fireworks almost blinded Fuu as Mugen lifted her out of the hatch and onto the rooftop. She stumbled a bit as her feet hit the roof, and suddenly found herself nestled against Mugen's broad chest, as he caught her. He pulled her closer with one arm. Instead of berating her for her clumsiness, he just looked down at her. She smiled, reached up to cup his face, and kissed him softly.

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Hi all. I hoped you liked the chapter. They finally get married! *squee*

Haha, Mugen even gets dressed up for the occasion. He took her name, so now he's Mugen Katsumi (or Katsumi Mugen if you follow the Japanese order of the name).

Terms: 

-Haori= a traditional Japanese sort of hip- or thigh-length kimono-like jacket. Doesn't close.

-Hakama=skirt-like pants worn by samurai.

-Monsuki= A type of kimono that went over the juban. The bottom was tucked into the hakama.

-Obi= A long strip of cloth used to secure clothing at the waist. Worn by men and women, though women's obis were wider and ornate compared to men.

-Date-eri= a white removable under-collar

-Juban=a thin, white kimono that was always put on first. Similar to an undershirt.

-Tabi=Ankle-high traditional socks with a separation between the big toe and other toes.

-Seta sandals=Flat, thong sandals similar to Zori (a traditional Japanese style of sandal, much like a flip-flop, originally made with a straw sole) but with a leather sole.

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I appreciate all your feedback. :)

Please rate and review!


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